Gavin Newsom (10 October 1967-) was Governor of California (D) from 3 January 2019 (succeeding Jerry Brown). He previously served as Lieutenant Governor from 10 January 2011 to 3 January 2019 (succeeding Abel Maldonado) and as Mayor of San Francisco from 8 January 2004 to 10 January 2011 (succeeding Willie Brown and preceding Ed Lee).
Biography[]
Gavin Newsom was born in San Francisco, California in 1967, and he was raised in nearby Marin County by his divorced mother. He graduated from Santa Clara University, and he created PlumpJack Associates LLP in 1991, starting the PlumpJack Winery with the help of the wealthy venture capitalist Gordon Getty. Getty treated Newsom like a son, becoming the father that Newsom never had. Newsom and his investors opened 22 other wineries, restaurants, and hotels in California, and he used his position to become involved in politics. He volunteered for Willie Brown's 1995 mayoral campaign, and Brown appointed Newsom to the Parking and Traffic Commission in 1996 and to the Board of Supervisors the following year. He became known as a social liberal and a fiscal watchdog. In 2003, he was elected Mayor of San Francisco, winning re-election, he was also elected Lieutenant Governor of California in 2011 and also re-elected in that position. In 2018, he was elected Governor to succeed Jerry Brown. Newsom presided over the state's response to near-annual wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, and, on 14 September 2021, he survived a recall attempt engineered by Republican activists enraged at lockdowns, job losses, school and business closures, and Newsom's November 2020 breach of his own COVID protocols during a birthday party held at the French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley.