This morning at 1:11 am Ed Lee passed away from a heart attack at the age of 65.

In a statement breaking the news, the mayor’s office said, “It is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away on Tuesday, December 12 at 1:11 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Family, friends and colleagues were at his side. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Anita, his two daughters, Brianna and Tania, and his family.”

Lee started his career in city government in 1989 as an investigator for the whistleblower ordinance. In 1991 he was appointed to as executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. In 2000 he was appointed as the director of San Francisco office of public works. He was appointed to a five year term as City Administrator in 2005 to which was reappointed in 2010.

Lee became the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco in 2011 when he was elected by the Board of Supervisors in a 10-1 vote to replace the resigning Gavin Newsom. Newsom resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of California. Lee was reelected in 2011 after originally pledging not to run and again in 2015 by a wide margin.

Lee is known for fighting for a $15 an hour minimum wage, an increase from $10.74, and affordable housing.

London Breed the supervisor for District 5 is serving as acting mayor due to rules laid out in the city charter.

For more in depth information on the career of Ed Lee see the San Francisco Chronicle article “S.F. Mayor Ed Lee’s career arc from activist to politician”.