Gavin Newsom

Background

Gavin Newsom was born in San Francisco in 1967. He attended Redwood High School and graduated from Santa Clara University. After college he opened a retail wine shop that grew into the PlumpJack Group of restaurants, hotels and wineries. His first public post was on the San Francisco Parking and Traffic Commission. Mayor Willie Brown appointed him to the Board of Supervisors in 1997, and voters elected him mayor in 2003. As mayor he directed the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He served as lieutenant governor from January 2011 to January 2019. Voters elected him governor on November 6, 2018, and re-elected him on November 8, 2022, with 59.2 percent of the vote over Republican Brian Dahle. He is married to Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and they have four children.

In office

Several of Newsom's recent decisions bear on Bay Area transit and housing. He signed Senator Scott Wiener's SB 79, which eases home building near transit, on October 10, 2025, and Wiener's SB 63 on October 13, 2025. SB 63 created the district behind Measure RTM, the 14-year transit sales tax on the November 3 ballot in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and San Francisco. On February 19, 2026, he signed AB 117, which provides a state loan of up to $590 million through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for BART, Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit operations.

On July 10, 2026, he signed AB 181, part of the budget agreement. Starting January 15, 2027, it moves the Department of Education's executive functions from the elected superintendent to an education commissioner the governor appoints. On September 30 he signed workplace AI bills, among them SB 947 by Senator Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton, which bars employers from firing workers on an automated system's decision alone. The same day he vetoed AB 1608 by Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Suisun City, which would have given the high-speed rail inspector general more hiring and contracting authority. On September 18 he vetoed AB 1729, a telework bill sponsored by SEIU Local 1000, whose members have voted to strike October 21 if talks stall.

On October 9 he endorsed Proposition 42, which would cancel the proposed billionaire tax in Proposition 40. On October 15 he called a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to set aside more than 20,000 California mail ballots an attempt by President Trump to suppress California voters. CalMatters reported that his communications office has 24 state-paid employees, up from 12 in January 2020.

On the ballot

Newsom is in his second and final term and is not on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The open governor's race is between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, the top two in the June 2 primary (Becerra 28.0 percent, Hilton 24.6 percent, Tom Steyer third at 22.8 percent). Newsom's term ends in January 2027. CalMatters describes him as a potential 2028 presidential candidate; he has not announced a run.