Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive and candidate for mayor of San Francisco, is the only candidate standing outside City Hall.
CBS News Bay Area recently caught up with Lurie as he rushed to catch a date night with his wife. As he jogged around town, Lurie was reminded with every passing block why he took on the challenge of a campaign.
“You have to go all out when you do something as crazy as running for mayor of your hometown,” he said.
“I love it when people say you can’t do something, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in San Francisco,” he continued. “We have a culture now where people say, ‘Oh, San Francisco is done.’ The city has the same drive that I have, and we’re not going to let anyone hold us back.”
With less than 100 days to go before Election Day, the reality of running for mayor has yet to sink in for the man best known for his nonprofit Tipping Point and his relationship with Levi’s. Yet he says his identity lies in the spirit of San Francisco.
“I think people have always underestimated me. I think people think, ‘Oh, everything was just handed to him,'” Lurie explained. “Listen, I’ve had a lot of opportunities. I’ll never deny that. I work hard at everything I do.”
Lurie steps off the 9 Muni bus on Market Street and pauses to tie his shoes before walking into the main event.
“I used to wear crazy colored socks, and I’m trying to tone it down a little bit. But you gotta have something down there,” he said of his graphic socks. “Too boring, too boring,” he said of plain socks.
Lurie walks into an event close to his heart, Downtown First Thursdays in SoMa. It’s a monthly event put on by the Civic Joy Fund, a group Lurie co-founded with a vision rooted in the next generation.
“I want all of our kids, not just my kids, all of our kids to have that same sense of pride and wonder about our great city,” Lurie said. “Right now, we’re all a little concerned about the direction our city is going, and I want to do something about it.”
Hand in hand, Lurie and his wife Becca have been together for more than 20 years. She learned early about Lurie’s dedication to commitment.
“If he says he’s going to do something, no matter how crazy it may be, he’s going to do it,” she told CBS News Bay Area.
Even the family dog is an example of Lurie’s loyalty to his own promises.
“I took this dog home without passing him by Becca first and the kids were so happy with him,” Lurie said.
“She peed on our carpet the first time,” Becca reminds him of their dog’s first impression. “I should have known. I should have taken my own advice about him. I should have listened to what I knew to be true about you.”
“When I do something, I go all out,” Lurie said.
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