You’d be hard-pressed to find another politician, gay or straight, who has been as outspoken about LGBT issues as San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom, but that’s just the beginning of his troubles. Newsom has been crisscrossing California in recent weeks in a tour he’s dubbed, “A Conversation on California’s Future.” His campaign site is up and running. As he amps up his campaign for governor, he’s trying to convince voters he’s a centrist, not by running away from his position, bur arguing that the center, itself has changed. But can the man whose name is synonymous with gay marriage pull it off?
In any other state, Mayor Newsom wouldn’t stand a chance, but California is a state famous for sending unlikely candidates to Sacramento, be they Austrian-born bodybuilders or genial actors.
If there’s anything California’s governors have in common, it’s a reputation for a larger-than-life presence.
And presence is something Newsom has in spades.
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His personal life makes the headlines as much as policy: His power couple marriage to prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle fizzled in 2005 and he remarried in 2008 to Jennifer Siebel, an actress of all things. He had an on-camera meltdown with an ABC-7 reporter who asked if he had a drinking problem — and then admitted a month later that he abused alcohol and would seek treatment, yet his latest business venture is a wine company in Napa.
His reputation as a playboy and metrosexual is legendary. Last week, as part of his campaign kick-off, he sat down with Ryan Seacrest and the two discussed hair care tips, with Seacrest asking how the mayor keeps his hair so shiny. Newsom responded:
“It’s $4.99 so I may get some bottles sent my way. I’m embarrassed, Ryan, because your the first to ask me this directly. And it deserves, because I don’t want to be like those other politicians, a direct response. It’s Loreal and its the clean gel. The total clean gel. They’ve got seven, eight products and the others don’t work.”
And perhaps most importantly (at least to Queerty‘s crowd) there’s the gay marriage issue, which is what he’s most associated with in the minds of voters. During the Proposition 8 battle, the Yes On 8 campaign ran an ad of Newsom telling supporters of gay marriage, “This door’s wide open now. It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not.” It was considered one of the most effective ads of the season.
He’s publicly condemned the Catholic Church’s opposition to gay adoption, but it was his decision to allow gay marriage in the city of San Francisco, just three weeks after taking office, that’s had the greatest impact on the gay and lesbian movement.
On Feb. 12, 2004, the mayor married Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, a lesbian couple that had been together for 50 years. His decision effectively launched the recent gay marriage civil rights movement. After the Attorney General ordered the marriages stopped, Martin and Lyon, as well as other married couples, sued the state, leading to last year’s decision by the California Supreme Court to allow gay marriage. The rest, as they say, is history.
All this baggage might be too daunting for a less self-assured politician, but Newsom believes he can win over the state’s conservative base as well — and so, last week, he toured Southern California, holding town-hall style meetings to introduce himself as something more than “the marriage mayor.”
Newsom is banking on appealing to voters not as a civil-rights advocate, but as practitioner of good government. As he travels across the state, he’s reminding voters that while California is ground zero for the financial crisis, San Francisco’s financial house is in order, with a surplus of cash on hand and a bond rate that keeps going up.
The mayor instituted a universal health care program for the city called Healthy San Francisco, and he’d like to expand it to the whole state.
He’s also pushing for massive reform of California’s perpetually failing public education program, telling a group of Santa Barbara citizens that “Human capital is the most precious resource California has.”
But despite his higher profile, Newsom isn’t running away from his gay rights record. Two weeks ago, he used a forum by the Commonwealth Club on the 55th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education as an opportunity to remind people that the civil rights struggle continues for gays and lesbians. “How can you argue separate is not equal and then argue that separate is equal — but only if you’re gay? It’s everything I’m not.”
The early reviews have been good. Town-hall meetings in Palm Springs, Santa Barabara, and Los Angeles were met with standing ovations, as well as curiosity. The question remains if Newsom’s star power is a double edged sword. While observers call him a front runner for the Democratic nomination, he faces a tough challenge from Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former governor (and former Mayor), who by comparison seems staid and reassuring. And there’s a real danger (or opportunity, depending on who you ask) that a match up between Gavin Newsom and Meg Whitman on the Republican ticket (she of eBay and supporting Prop 8) in 2010 is liable to turn into an extended referendum on gay marriage.
In Newsom, California faces a litmus test of its changing politics. Is his gubernatorial bid a quixotic quest to bring progressive values to the world’s 5th largest economy or is he the new face of centrist politics? Newsom wants you to believe the latter, but will voters?
Wayne
I think he’d make a very good Gov. for Cali (A future presidential candidate isn’t such a bad idea either. That would really make the christian conservatives freak out).
Douglas Gibson Jr
Go Gavin!
GayIsTheWay
Will a gay person ever run for Mayor of San Francisco?
Gavin Newsom didn’t start the marriage debate. It’s been going on for decades before he came into office. At that time The Netherlands and Belgium already granted marriage to same-sex couples.
If Newsom, Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman are the candidates then I’m going with Newsom.
damien
Yes, he’d be amazing for gay rights, but how good is he with balancing a budget? Because, you know, California’s financial situation is currently one of the worst in the country.
tavdy79
@damien: sixth paragraph from the bottom:
Granted, running a state of 35 million is a little different from running a city of 700,000, but right now merely staying in the black is quite an achievement.
M. Bergeron
@GayIsTheWay: Why don’t you run?
Jaroslaw
#3 – Yes, obviously Gay Marriage has been other places prior to San Franscisco, but how can you dispute he set off the firestorm that led to our current Calif. Supreme Court situation?
Jaroslaw
And I’m very proud he’s not backing away from his Gay Rights record either. He’s giving people a choice – stick with the status quo or vote for real change. That is what people say they want right? A real choice, not the usual “you can hardly tell the dif between Rep & Dem’s.”?
alan brickman
He’s kinda flakey..doesn’t know how to fight for gay rights properly…just because he’s good looking doesn’t mean he can become governor..a bit of an oppurtunist if you ask me…
Mad Professah
@GayIsTheWay: I believe current Assemblymember Tom Ammiano ran for Mayor previously as did former City Supervisor Matt Gonzalez?
It’s likely the choices for the Democratic nomination will be between:
Gavin Newsom
Antonio Villaraigosa
Jerry Brown
Jack O’Connell
John Garamendi
and possibly Dianne Feinstein
Right now, I’m slightly in favor of Villaraigosa but I’m willing to hear from Newsom. There’s no way in hell I’ll vote for Feinstein.
atdleft
@Mad Professah: And you probably won’t have to. All I’ve heard from Sacto & DC so far is that DiFi won’t run. Maybe they’re wrong, but I’m starting to get the feeling that she doesn’t want to leave her cushy position of power in the Senate to try to govern one of the most f*cked up states in the nation.
And right now, I’m not too far away from you in my preferences for Guv. I like both Gavin & Antonio, but can’t yet pick one over the other. And if John Garamendi proves to have more than a snowball’s chance at winning, I may consider him more seriously.
kevin (not that one)
@Mad Professah: Gay people have been running for every city office in SF for many years, including the office of the Mayor. Tom Ammiano is the most well-known of those who’ve run for mayor. As cute as Matt Gonzalez is, he unfortunately is straight. I know…I volunteered for his campaign when he ran against Gavin.
Gavin’s been great on the gay issue, but I’m sorry to say that he’s just not a very effective politician. In fact, I have a tendency to believe that Gavin’s all show and nothing underneath and many other San Franciscans will agree. I find it particularly horrendous how the gays go ga-ga over Gavin when they give no thought to how he’s been actually being a mayor and not a mascot.
I’m a city resident, so I actually care about issues that don’t have anything to do with gay marriage – such as infrastructure, affordability, job creation, homelessness, the city budget, crime and so on.
On these fronts, Gavin hasn’t been stellar. Gavin seems to only respond to these issues when the Board of Supervisors, led by progressives, hold his feet to the fire. And even then it’s all about the photo ops. I can’t tell you how many photo ops Gavin must have on his weekly schedule. Sorry, but that’s not an effective politician.
I don’t actively dislike Gavin (although at one point I did). I would like to see him be successful. But as a politician, I think he lacks the vision to be anything other than another cog in the status quo. And before you say “what about same-sex marriage?”…Everyone knows that Gavin’s activism on SSM was simply a reaction to what many groups of people and community activists in San Francisco were pushing for at the time.
In many ways, he was the accidental spokesperson for SSM in San Francisco. He merely jumped to the head of the parade when it seemed like a way to solidify support among liberals when he was being attacked by San Francisco’s infamous progressives on other issues. At the time, his support for SSM seemed like a red herring to distract attention from his homelessness policies and other issues progressives were attacking him on.
So I guess, as a politcal move, that paid off. But then it took a life of it’s own and now, probably to a little his dismay, he’s the poster child of something that was meant initially to throw off his adversaries.
1234567
Since this seems to be an ongoing issue.. fck it.. let them get married. I was against it before, but because gays seem to need to get married let em..I don’t want hear it anymore. lets mOOOOOOooove on to mOOOOOOoore important issues like why our economy is so messed up and why families with kids are living in tents right now like the great depression.
Jaroslaw
#12 Kevin (not that one) – I’m not a SanFranscisco resident, and don’t follow the politics there that closely – I thought this article said SF is in the black, financially. Which may not totally be the mayor’s doing, but a bad mayor can certainly spend a city out of business!
Secondly, I don’t know a mayor or politician anywhere that doesn’t get “attacked” for doing or not doing something. But to accuse him of using SSM as a distraction gives him no credit at all. Unless he is stellarly stupid, I’m sure he knew this was a huge issue and would become larger. And I’m very happy that he hasn’t backed down from him position of supporting Gays & SSM as so many have.
consistant
i dont think he will. hes a wreck anyways. but we do need to figure this out
kevin (not that one)
@Jaroslaw: Oh no. Don’t get me wrong. I think Gavin’s been great on that issue and I don’t think he’s using it as a distraction in anyway now. However, at the time, it *seemed* that way.
You have to realize that Gavin Newsom initially won by a very slim majority (51 or 52% I believe) in a very hotly contested election in which he represented the Downtown/Democratic status quo machine. His opponent was and is a true progressive that had the support of the grassroots, who by the way was also VERY LGBT-supportive. No doubt that had Matt Gonzalez won, he – not Gavin – would’ve been held up as a hero the same way Gavin is now.
My point is that all of the work around SSM had previously been done and supported by various groups and individuals and all Gavin had to do was put on a smiling face and allow the county clerk to continue.
Gavin simply stumbled into his current role as Gay Savior (I’m kidding) because he happened to have gotten elected, not because this was his “issue”. It would’ve been political suicide in SF for him to not have supported SSM when he was approached by marriage equality activists who had made plans to go down to the County Clerks office and ask for marriage license applications. He had already been branded as “conservative” (for SF) for his support of Care not Cash and was seen as a protege of Slick Willie Brown.
It’s important for all of you who don’t understand the politics that gave us Gavin to realize that he’s a POLITICIAN, not an activist.
Confessions of a Bad Boy
Gavin is such a dreamboat.
rogue dandelion
@Confessions of a Bad Boy: agreed
i prefer gavin, for his fierce, brash, uncompromising persona, but i think the smart money is on Villaraigosa to get the nomination, and probably a republican to win the governorship again.
Why do i think this? because i live here and california is filled with prop 8 supporting idiots and anti-immigrant sentiments will down villaraigosa like they did bustamante with the whole drivers licenses thing.
I think gavin actually has a better chance in general-here’s hoping!
Jaroslaw
#16 Kevin (not that one) – thanks for the clarification.
Having not lived in San Franscisco, I’ll have to take your word for this scenario of (Gavin) just putting a happy face on and allowing the (shouldn’t it be City not County?) clerk to issue marriage licenses. Still, it may have been “political suicide” not to, but it was his call to make. It is just hard for me to see such a radical step as “inevitable” as you portray. Thanks for the analysis.
Jason in WV
Isn’t anyone else a little freaked out that there is an ad for Sarah Palin PAC on the side of this page?
I mean, come on guys – some of you are total whores, but are you that fuckin’ stupid??????????
kevin (not that one)
@Jaroslaw: The problem with Gavin is that he’s not “radical”. However, because of he has been propped up and thrust into the spotlight as the “gay marriage Mayor” by both the right and left, he now has that image – whether he deserves it or not.
It obviously helps him with our community and perhaps many folks on the liberal/left in CA, but it kills his chances of reaching out to the conservatives. If he does run, expect much of his campaign to center on focusing how “conservative” Newsom is.
He’ll definitely be attacked from the right, and feeling the hurt, liberals will immediately rush to his defense. The vote surrounding Newsom will be polarized and he’ll be desperately seeking that 5% of fence-sitters who in all likelihood will end up not voting or swinging towards the right.
So, hate to say it…but the SSM issue – one that Gavin certainly didn’t expect as a defining career move – is likely to hurt Newsom’s chances at getting elected. I fear if he is elected, he will spend so much time appeasing conservatives who didn’t vote for him that he’ll be Gray Davis – Part 2 (for those of you outside of CA – a Democrat that is ineffectual and tries to please both the right and left to no avail).
BTW, it’s the city AND county of San Francisco. Because SF is one of the few major cities in the US that’s both a city and county, we were able to achieve with the stroke of a pen what most gay-friendly cities could not.