SAN FRANCISCO: London Breed Wins Mayoral Race

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Former state Sen. Mark Leno conceded defeat in the San Francisco mayor’s race Wednesday to Supervisor London Breed. “I called Supervisor London Breed this morning to congratulate her and to wish her every success both personally and professionally in her new job as mayor of San Francisco,” Leno said in a news conference at a sign shop he runs near City Hall. “She’s going to do a very fine job,” Leno said. “Her success is San Francisco’s success.”

Leno held a slim lead in the ranked-choice balloting after election night last week, but Breed soon pulled ahead and has steadily widened the gap. On Tuesday, she had a 1,861-vote advantage over Leno with about 9,360 votes still to be counted, according to the city Department of Elections. Leno said he saw no point in waiting for the additional ballots to be tallied, as the trend in Breed’s favor was clear.

Leno would have been the city’s first openly gay mayor.