San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie meets supporters in Chinatown on Nov 8. Enthusiasm is high for Lurie, who is entering city politics as a relatively blank slate, having never held elected office.

There’s something in the air in San Francisco. Something I wasn’t expecting, given the results of the presidential election.

Hundreds of people crowded into St. Mary’s Square in Chinatown on Nov. 8 to hear Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie deliver a brief acceptance speech. They climbed onto benches and planters to catch a glimpse of him above the thickets of TV cameras and observers. They lifted their phones as high as they could to snap pictures and videos. They cheered after nearly every sentence he uttered even though poor acoustics made it difficult to hear what he was saying. And when he stepped away from the podium to visit merchants on Grant Street, they swarmed, demanding selfies or handshakes or a few words with the man who had suddenly been catapulted to San Francisco’s most powerful position.

It was a raw, fervent feeling that hasn’t been too prevalent in San Francisco as of late: Hope.

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And it’s still pervading the city a week later, even as the country plunges into uncertainty.

Watching Lurie head down Grant Street, I was reminded of a mother duck shepherding her ducklings across the road, there were so many people following him. “Everyone wants a piece of him now,” one bystander said.

When I spent time with Lurie on the campaign trail, it was evident that he had star power and that his easygoing, affable personality appealed to voters. But the energy emanating from the crowd at his acceptance speech was different.

It was one of catharsis........

© San Francisco Chronicle