Gavin Newsom - Early Political Career

Early Political Career

Newsom's first political experience came when he volunteered for Willie Brown's campaign for mayor in 1995. Newsom hosted a private fundraiser at his PlumpJack Cafe. In 1996, he was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to a vacant seat on the Parking and Traffic Commission and was later elected president of the commission. In 1997, Brown appointed him to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Kevin Shelley. At the time, he became the youngest member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and also the board's only heterosexual Caucasian male. Newsom was sworn in by his father and pledged to bring his business experience to the Board. Willie Brown called Newsom "part of the future generation of leaders of this great city." Newsom described himself as a "social liberal and a fiscal watchdog." Newsom was subsequently elected to a full, 4 year term to the Board in 1998.

In 1999, San Francisco's voters chose to exchange at-large elections to the Board for the previous district system and Newsom was reelected in 2000 and 2002 to represent District 2, which includes the Pacific Heights, Marina, Cow Hollow, Sea Cliff, and Laurel Heights. He faced no opposition in his 2002 reelection. His district had the highest income level and the highest Republican registration in San Francisco. Newsom also had author Danielle Steel and actor Robin Williams as constituents. In 2000, Newsom paid $500 to the San Francisco Republican Party to be on the party's endorsement slate.

As Supervisor, Newsom gained public attention for his role in advocating reform of the city's Municipal Railway (Muni). He was one of two supervisors endorsed by Rescue Muni, a transit riders group, in his 1998 reelection. He sponsored Proposition B to require Muni and other city departments to develop detailed customer service plans. The measure passed with 56.6% of the vote. Newsom sponsored a ballot measure from Rescue Muni; a version of the measure was approved by voters in November 1999.

Newsom also supported allowing restaurants to serve alcohol at their outdoor tables, banning tobacco advertisements visible from the streets, stiffer penalties for landlords and a resolution to commend Colin Powell for raising money for youth programs that was defeated. Newsom's support for business interests at times strained his relationship with labor leaders.

During Newsom's time as Supervisor, he was pro-development and for smart growth along with being "anti-handout." He supported housing projects through public-private partnerships to increase home ownership and affordable housing in San Francisco. Newsom supported HOPE, a failed local ballot measure that would have allowed increased condo-conversion rate if a certain percentage of tenants within a building were buying their units. As a candidate for Mayor, he supported building 10,000 new housing units to create 15,000 new construction jobs.

As Supervisor, the centerpiece of Newsom's efforts was a voter initiative called "Care Not Cash (Measure N)," which offered care, supportive housing, drug treatment and help from behavior health specialists for the homeless instead of direct cash aid from the state's General Assistance program. Many homeless rights advocates protested against Care Not Cash. The successfully passed ballot measure raised the political profile of Gavin Newsom and provided the volunteers, donors and campaign staff, which helped make him a leading contender for the Mayorship in 2003.