Gavin Christopher Newsom was born on 10 October 1967. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He started the PlumpJack Wine Shop in 1992. The business flourished into a multi-million dollar enterprise. After serving in a number of public jobs he won the race for the Mayor of San Francisco in 2003.

He shot to fame on the issue of same sex marriages. Within a month of his taking over as Mayor, Newsom issued a directive to the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In his opinion the California Constitution’s equal protection clause gave him authority to do so.

However, after a very successful political career trouble started with his former deputy chief of staff, Alex Tourk. He alleged Newsom of having had an affair with his wife, Rippey Tourk in 2005. She then worked in the Mayor’s Office as the Mayor’s aide for commission appointments. It was also discovered by San Francisco City attorney in an investigation that Rippey-Tourk had received $ 10,154 as illness pay. However Newsom and others were cleared of all charges later. On 1^st February 2007 Newsom apologized for the affair at a news conference. He is still the Mayor of San Francisco.