Melanie Mason is a national political correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, based in Los Angeles. She started with The Times in Washington, D.C., in 2011, covering money and politics, and she also covered state politics and government in Sacramento. But by then Newsom had become an unlikely face for marriage equality; news stories from the time emphasized that he was straight and married. Kendell said it was precisely because Newsom did not have a reputation as an outspoken liberal that he was able to make his decision.

• And when parents do have to go to work, Gavin wants to ensure all families have access to affordable, high quality childcare.
• THE Mayor of San Francisco reportedly dined at an upscale Californian restaurant just three days before banning indoor dining in the city, as a slew of officials ignore their own Covid orders.
• U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore was accused of sexually assaulting two women decades ago when they were teenagers.
• He will build economic strength in all California communities by championing the small businesses that power them, including establishing innovative micro-lending programs to assist the growth of minority-owned firms in minority communities.
• Gavin will work to address the inequities in our public education system, connect our early childhood, K-12 and higher education systems and develop incentives to attract highly qualified educators.
• Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel, center, is accused of sexually inappropriate comments and behavior toward a number of women, Bittel resigned.

Newsom said that while crime is one component, “there’s a lot of conflation of those triple patte asterix issues,” including mental health, open use of drugs, and the “dirtiness” in parts of the city. In 2003, then-supervisor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ran in a large field of challengers, including Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, former supervisor Angela Alioto, city treasurer Susan Leal, and former police chief Tony Ribera. Newsom and Gonzalez took first and second place, respectively, but neither won a majority, so the two advanced to a runoff election. Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, though most candidates in San Francisco do receive funding and support from various political parties. I’ve spoken to Newsom allies who worry that he’s attempting too much and that it could end with him achieving too little. Every one of these ideas will face serious implementation challenges.

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Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown has stated that Barack Obama declined to have his picture taken with Newsom at a fundraiser in 2004. Obama’s deputy campaign director, Steve Hildebrand, has denied this, calling it “a ridiculous story”. The 2004 same sex marriages increased Newsom’s popularity in San Francisco to the level where he faced no serious opposition to his reelection in 2007.

Tired Of Grad School

Newsom secured $8 million in federal and local funds for the Better Streets program, which ensures that public health perspectives are fully integrated into urban planning processes. He signed a menu-labeling bill into law, requiring that chain restaurants print nutrition information on their menus. In 2005, Newsom pushed for a state law to allow California communities to create policy restricting certain breeds of dogs. In 2007, he signed the law establishing Healthy San Francisco to provide city residents with universal health care, the first city in the nation to do so. Newsom’s first political experience came when he volunteered for Willie Brown’s successful campaign for mayor in 1995.

Gavin Newsom Is Much More Than The Lesser Of Two Evils

He made housing the primary focus of his 2020 State of the State speech. But the initial consensus was that he overpromised and underdelivered. There were widespread frustrations that he wasn’t tough enough with the Legislature and his interventions were often ineffective.

Newsom eventually officiated a handful of marriages, including Kawa’s and Newstat’s respective ceremonies with their partners. Gay rights advocates said the pictures of relatable, ebullient couples instantly humanized the debate over marriage equality. A Massachusetts court case was laying the groundwork to force that state to legally recognize same-sex marriage.

Newsom ran as a moderate against leftist/progressive Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party. It was the first mayoral election in San Francisco that a Green Party candidate took a noticeable amount of the vote. The election was close, with Gonzalez leading in the polls and winning the popular vote among ballots cast on election day, while Newsom had a larger lead on absentee ballots. One is that, unlike pretty much any governor California has ever had, he would focus intently on homelessness. That was one of his signature issues as mayor, and his 10-Year Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness, which emphasized permanent, supportive housing, helped move nearly 12,000 people off the streets by 2014.

He directly managed the Gordon P. Getty Family Trust, which is estimated at more than $2 billion. The trust earns about 2 percent a year resulting in approximately $40 million in annual income. He screened potential investments and made recommendations on real estate, stocks, bonds, and other ventures. In 1975, Jerry Brown appointed Newsom to the Superior Court bench in Auburn and later to the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco, where he served until his retirement in 1995. In this role he ruled on several prominent cases including the right of privacy for sufferers of HIV, the liability of the San Francisco 49ers for a player’s injury and ruled against the prestigious Bohemian Club’s ban on employing women.