London Breed Bio
London Nicole Breed (born August 11, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 45th Mayor of San Francisco from 2018 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2013 to 2018 and served as board president from 2015 until assuming the mayoralty. Breed is the first Black woman elected mayor of San Francisco and only the second woman, after Dianne Feinstein, to hold the office.
Her mayoralty emphasized housing production, public safety, homelessness initiatives, and transportation improvements. After running for re-election in 2024, she conceded the race in November 2024 to fellow Democrat Daniel Lurie.
Early Life and Background
London Nicole Breed was born on August 11, 1974, in San Francisco, California, and raised by her grandmother in Plaza East public housing in the city’s Western Addition neighborhood. She grew up alongside three siblings, including a younger sister who died of a drug overdose in 2006, and an aunt facing mental health challenges. Her brother, Napoleon Brown, is serving a 44-year prison sentence for a 2000 conviction on manslaughter and armed robbery charges, and Breed has repeatedly requested clemency on his behalf.
In reflections on her childhood, Breed described a household of five living on $900 per month, where recycling meant drinking from old mayonnaise jars and weekly trips to the community room brought government-issued groceries. At age 14, she worked as a paid intern at The Family School through the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Training Program, an early introduction to civic life. She graduated with honors from Galileo High School, where she participated in band and school government, and supported herself through college by babysitting and cleaning houses.
Path to US Politics
Breed entered college as a chemistry major before earning a bachelor’s degree in political science–public service from the University of California, Davis in 1997. She later completed a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco in 2012, reflecting her ongoing commitment to public service. Her earliest professional experience came through an internship in the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services for Mayor Willie Brown.
In 2002, Breed became executive director of the African American Art & Culture Complex, where she raised more than $2.5 million to renovate its 34,000-square-foot facility. She was named to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commission in 2004 and, in 2010, was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to the San Francisco Fire Commission. These positions helped establish her credentials as a hands-on civic leader before she entered elected office.
London Breed Career
Early Career (2013–2017)
London Nicole Breed was elected to the District 5 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 2012, defeating incumbent Christina Olague by more than 12 points after five rounds of ranked-choice voting. She was inaugurated on January 8, 2013, with California Attorney General Kamala Harris administering the oath of office. Early in her first term, she persuaded city departments to complete two new bike lanes on Oak and Fell Streets ahead of schedule, earning praise as an emerging bicycling champion.
Breed co-sponsored 2014’s Proposition A, a $500 million bond for street repaving, transit, and pedestrian safety, which passed with 72% support. In January 2015, she was elected President of the Board of Supervisors by an 8 to 3 vote and later unanimously, succeeding Katy Tang. As board president, Breed helped pass neighborhood-preference legislation for affordable housing and personally flew to Washington, D.C., to persuade the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow the program to proceed.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Breakthrough (2015–2018)
During her tenure as board president, Breed built a record on housing, environmental policy, and public safety. She authored the launch of CleanPowerSF, the city’s community-choice aggregation program, after it had stalled for 12 years, and worked for 17 months to bring it to fruition. In 2016, San Francisco passed the nation’s strongest ban on the sale of polystyrene foam products under her leadership, an accomplishment highlighted in her re-election campaign’s “Styrofoam Monster” web video.
Following Mayor Ed Lee’s death on December 12, 2017, Breed became Acting Mayor by virtue of her position as Board President. She served in that capacity until January 23, 2018, when the Board selected Mark Farrell as interim caretaker mayor pending a special election. Breed then won the June 5, 2018, mayoral special election after a ranked-choice contest with Mark Leno and Jane Kim, with Leno conceding on June 13.
Mayor of San Francisco Era (2018–2024)
Sworn in on July 11, 2018, London Nicole Breed became the first Black woman elected mayor of San Francisco. Her administration prioritized housing production, sponsoring a $600 million housing bond approved by voters in 2019 and launching the “30×30 Plan” to add 30,000 new residents to the city by 2030. She created the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program to streamline conversions of office buildings into housing and championed modular construction as a faster, cheaper path to more units.
On public safety, Breed signed a 2019 ordinance banning e-cigarette sales in San Francisco, declared a State of Emergency in the Tenderloin in 2021 to address the opioid crisis, and announced a multi-agency Joint Task Force in 2023. She sponsored Proposition E, approved by voters in March 2024, which authorized San Francisco Police Department use of drones and streamlined reporting. By late 2024, the city reported its lowest crime rate in 10 years, with violent crime down 14% and property crime down 34% compared with the same period in 2023.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among her signature accomplishments, Breed’s tenure saw San Francisco reach its lowest street homelessness rate in a decade and become the only Bay Area city with a shrinking homelessness rate. She led the city’s COVID-19 response, declaring a local state of emergency in February 2020 before the federal government recommended it and pushing for outdoor dining and pedestrian space expansions during lockdown. She also made international headlines in 2024 with a diplomatic trip to China aimed at securing giant pandas for San Francisco after requesting them from General Secretary Xi Jinping at the close of the APEC United States 2023 summit.
London Breed Career Wins
London Nicole Breed’s most notable electoral victories include her 2012 win for the District 5 Board of Supervisors seat, her 2018 mayoral special election triumph, and her 2019 election to a full mayoral term against five lesser-known candidates.
Mayoral and Supervisorial Highlights
Breed’s first major win came in November 2012, when she defeated incumbent Christina Olague by more than 12 points in ranked-choice voting to claim the District 5 seat. Her highest-profile victory was the June 5, 2018, mayoral special election, where she led the first-choice count with 35.6% and ultimately prevailed after Mark Leno conceded on June 13. She then secured a full four-year term in the 2019 mayoral election.
Her most recent campaign, the 2024 re-election bid, ended in concession to Democrat Daniel Lurie on November 7, 2024, closing her tenure as mayor.
Other Wins & Achievements
Beyond elections, Breed’s signature policy wins included passage of the 2019 $600 million housing bond by a 42% margin, the launch of CleanPowerSF after a 17-month fight, and the 2016 polystyrene foam ban recognized as the strongest in the nation. She also celebrated passage of Proposition H in 2015 with 80% support and Proposition C in March 2024 by a 5% margin to support office-to-residential conversions.
London Breed Family
Family Background and Public Service Lineage
London Nicole Breed was raised by her grandmother in San Francisco’s Plaza East public housing and grew up alongside two brothers and a sister, as well as an aunt with mental health challenges. Her younger sister died of a drug overdose in 2006, and her brother Napoleon Brown is serving a 44-year sentence for manslaughter and armed robbery convictions from 2000. Breed’s professional path was influenced early on by an internship in Mayor Willie Brown’s Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services, giving her a direct connection to the city’s political establishment.
Personal Life
As of 2020, Breed lives in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood. Before becoming mayor, her apartment was rent-controlled. In February 2020, she appeared on the Nob Hill Gazette’s “A-List Eligibles” ranking, where she was described as “quite possibly the City’s hardest-working bachelorette” and named Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington as her celebrity crushes.