Gavin Newsom Fast Facts
(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Gavin Newsom, governor of California.
Personal
Birth date: October 10, 1967
Birth place: San Francisco, California
Birth name: Gavin Christopher Newsom
Father: William Alfred Newsom III, lawyer and California state appeals court judge
Mother: Tessa Thomas Menzies, waitress, secretary, paralegal and businesswoman
Marriages: Jennifer (Siebel) Newsom (2008-present); Kimberly Guilfoyle (2001-2006, divorced)
Children: with Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Montana, Hunter, Brooklynn and Dutch
Education: Santa Clara University, B.S. in political science, 1989
Religion: Catholic
Other Facts
Has spoken publicly about his lifelong struggle with dyslexia, a learning disability.
After divorcing, Newsom’s mother worked multiple jobs to raise him and his sister.
Timeline
1992 – Opens a wine shop in San Francisco with investment help from family friend Gordon Getty. Newsom and his partners later expand into a profitable slate of restaurants and wineries known as the Plumpjack Group.
1995 – Volunteers for Willie Brown’s successful San Francisco mayoral campaign.
1996 – Mayor Brown appoints Newsom to San Francisco’s Parking and Traffic Commission.
1997 – Is appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is elected to the board in 1998 and reelected twice.
November 4, 2003 – Garners about 42% of the vote in the first round of San Francisco’s mayoral election.
December 9, 2003 – In the runoff election, Newsom is elected mayor of San Francisco with almost 53% of the vote.
2004-2011 – Serves as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco.
February 12, 2004 – Newsom orders the city and county of San Francisco to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite the state law banning same-sex unions. On August 12, the California Supreme Court rules that Newsom exceeded his authority and invalidates the marriages of more than 4,000 same-sex couples. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court strikes down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
February 1, 2007 – Apologizes for having an affair with his campaign manager’s wife in 2005.
February 5, 2007 – Announces that he is seeking “professional assistance” to stop drinking. In a statement, Newsom says, “I take full responsibility for my personal mistakes, and my problems with alcohol are not an excuse for my personal lapses in judgment.”
November 6, 2007 – Is reelected mayor with over 73% of the vote.
April 21, 2009 – Announces that he is running for governor of California. He drops the bid on October 30.
November 2, 2010 – Elected California’s lieutenant governor with 50.2% of the vote.
2011-2019 – Serves as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of California. Reelected in 2014.
2012-2013 – “The Gavin Newsom Show,” a weekly talk show, airs on Current TV.
February 7, 2013 – Newsom’s book “Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government” is published.
November 6, 2018 – Newsom is elected California’s governor in a landslide victory over Republican John Cox.
January 7, 2019-present – 40th Governor of California.
March 19, 2020 – Newsom issues a stay-at-home order for California, marking the first statewide mandatory restrictions to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.
November 6, 2020 – Newsom attends an unmasked birthday dinner at an elite Napa Valley restaurant while urging Californians to stay home and avoid gatherings outside their households to stop the spread of Covid-19. Newsom later says in his apology that he made a “bad mistake.”
September 14, 2021 – Survives a GOP-led gubernatorial recall effort, with about 38% voting to remove Newsom from office.
November 8, 2022 – Is reelected governor with about 60% of the vote.
March 2023 – Announces the Campaign for Democracy political action committee, “founded to expose and fight rising authoritarianism across the nation” and aimed at countering “extremist Republicans.”
March 2025 – Launches the podcast “This Is Gavin Newsom,” which notably debuts with an over hour-long episode in which Newsom sits down with the late conservative activist, Charlie Kirk. In the first few episodes, Newsom hosts guests he explicitly disagrees with, saying he wants to engage in meaningful conversations across political lines.
November 4, 2025 – California voters approve Proposition 50, Newsom’s push to redraw the state’s congressional maps, allowing Democrats to replace congressional lines drawn by the state’s independent commission with new ones that make five US House seats more favorable for the governor’s party. On February 4, 2026, the Supreme Court allows California to use the new congressional map.
February 24, 2026 – Newsom’s book “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery” is published.
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