Edwin Mah Lee (May 5, 1952 – December 12, 2017) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco from 2011 until his death in 2017.

In 1991, he was hired as executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, serving in that capacity under Mayors Agnos, Frank Jordan, and Willie Brown.

[10] Speculation about possible appointees and debate on whether or not the old board of supervisors should cast the vote for the new mayor soon followed Newsom's election as lieutenant governor.

[16] However, some San Francisco political activists – including Rose Pak, consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Planning Commission President Christina Olague, Assistant District Attorney Victor Hwang, 'Progress for All' chief consultant, Enrique Pearce and Eddy Zheng – started a "Run Ed Run" campaign in June 2011 to encourage him to put his name on the ballot.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, herself a former appointee mayor who had gone on to win reelection for two terms, publicly supported a Lee candidacy.

[18] On August 7, 2011, Lee reneged on his promise to the San Francisco board of supervisors and formally announced his decision to seek election.

[19][20] In an election where Lee had no challengers with substantial name recognition or experience in politics, he received 56% in the first round of instant-runoff voting.

[28] That year, Lee pledged to construct 30,000 new and rehabilitated homes throughout the city by 2020, with half available to low, working and middle income San Franciscans,[29] and launched a small site acquisition program to fund the purchase and stabilization of multi-family rental buildings in neighborhoods that are susceptible to evictions and rising rents.

[30] Lee sponsored a $310 million bond measure to pay for housing for the November 2015 general election, which passed.

[34] In 2014, the board of supervisors unanimously approved a measure to raise the city's minimum wage for the November 2014 ballot.

[38] On January 13, 2012, incumbent Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness in connection with a New Year's Eve altercation he had with his wife.

While jury selection was underway, Mirkarimi entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney and pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment.

[43] On October 9, 2012, four of the eleven San Francisco District Supervisors voted against Lee's removal of Mirkarimi as sheriff.

[45] He was remembered by SFGate as "the city’s first Asian American mayor and the man who presided over San Francisco’s transformation during the recent tech boom.

[50] Lee graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1974 and from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, in 1978.