San Francisco Mayor and California Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom is no stranger to adversity. He grew up in a single-parent household where he pulled his weight to help make ends meet and in school he struggled with a profound learning disability. Gavin’s upbringing instilled in him a strong work ethic coupled with an intimate understanding of some of today’s most complex social and economic issues. Above all, the obstacles that Gavin faced growing up taught him to live his life with confidence and optimism-two attributes that he strives each day to help his constituents find within themselves.

Contrary to popular belief, Gavin Christopher Newsom was not born and raised in a world of wealth and privilege. His mother, Tessa Newsom gave birth to Gavin in San Francisco when she was eighteen and to his sister Hilary when she was twenty. Gavin’s mother (who died in 2002 after a five year battle with breast cancer) and his father, Judge William Newsom, who lived together in Cole Valley and the Marina District of San Francisco, separated when Gavin was two and divorced when Gavin was just five years old. After the divorce, Gavin was raised by his mother in Corte Madera and Larkspur, California, where she worked hard at three jobs (secretary, paralegal and waitress) to support Gavin and his sister. Growing up, both Gavin and Hilary worked on the weekends as well as every summer to help their family make ends meet.The family also took in several foster children over the course of Gavin’s childhood. Gavin has  said that “I have always understood you can’t take things for granted. You have to fight hard every day” and he credits his mother with being a “model of that, of sacrifice and hard work.”

From his father, Gavin learned about the complicated world of politics. Judge Newsom is good friends with the Getty family and has familial ties to the Pelosi family. In 1975 then-governor (and current Democratic nominee for governor) Jerry Brown appointed Judge Newsom to the Superior Court of Placer County and later to the State Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Unlike his powerful friends, however, Judge Newsom did not have much money due to what Gavin refers to as Judge Newsom’s “extraordinary selflessness.” Gavin recalls that his father “helped more people financially, people in need to a degree that is unimaginable to me.” As a child Gavin did spend time with the Getty’s, going with them on exotic vacations which exposed Gavin to a totally different environment than the one he knew at home with his mother and sister. Gavin has said that his mother “had a way of not making us feel privileged. If we had the privilege of going on a summer trip with the Getty family, we would come back and my mother would remind us real quick: ‘That was great, but here’s reality.’ ” These experiences traveling between two drastically different worlds caused Gavin to become sensitive to the stark differences between the lives of  those who have plenty and those who do not.   Read More »

A few of us attended the Gavin Newsom town hall in Santa Monica last night. The room was freckled with green shirts, green hats and green beads for St. Patricks Day. There were dozens of print media, bloggers and television journalists, flanked by Frank Luntz on his laptop(?).

Running a tad late, the mayor was greeted by a friendly crowd, local politicos and a hand full of celebrities, think Ryan Reynolds without Scarlett Johansson. Following his introduction by local councilman Bobby Shriver, he walked everyone through the paces of his healthcare, education and environmental policy goals and promptly opened the floor to questions. Compared to reports I have read from Oakland and beyond, this event must have seemed like a night off for the mayor.

I think most who attended were equally interested in getting to know the man as much as his solutions. He is as charismatic as advertised and kept everyone engaged throughout the give and take.

The only noteworthy answer he gave was to the first question. A woman asked what he intended to do about the 2/3 rule that is obstructing progress in California and empowering a minority to sell itself to the highest bidder. He gave an answer that I have yet to see reported. He said he favors the 50 plus 1 approach to this reform. He went on to speak more broadly about other reforms and the proposed constitutional convention without any specifics.

On the issues of marriage and equal rights for gay couples, he was the most convincing. He referenced Loving vs. Virginia, said he preferred losing an election on this issue over being on the wrong side of history. This was my first opportunity to meet the mayor in person without any filters.

If I were consulting the mayor, I would encourage him to include more anecdotes about his family. The stories about "liars dice" and such give voters a glimpse of the man behind the politics, which for many is as important at this stage of the race.

As he closed, he asked to begin a dialogue with those of us in the gymnasium. Mayor, we look forward to it and will be in touch.