Gavin Newsom
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Gavin Newsom is the son of an appellate court judge and came from an
old, privileged San Francisco family. He graduated from Santa Clara
University in 1989, and with a loan from the wealthy Getty family, he
started the PlumpJack Wine Shop in 1992. The business eventually grew
to a multi-million dollar empire with over 700 employees, including
restaurants, theaters, a wine label, and a hotel/ski resort. He served
on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1996 to 2004, where he
became well-known for his "Care Not Cash" initiative, which reformed
the city's homeless policy by slashing cash benefits to the homeless.
Newsom was elected the 42nd mayor of San Francisco in 2004, the
youngest mayor of that city in over a century. In February 2004, he
made national headlines when he allowed same-sex couples to obtain
marriage licenses.
