Gavin Newsom

DemocratGovernor of California

Age	58 (b. 1967-10-10)
Gender	Male
In office since	2019-01-01 (~7 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	White; of Irish descent (self-described Irish Catholic)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Education	Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Santa Clara University (1989); graduated Redwood High School, Larkspur, CA (1985)
Prior occupation	Businessman; founder of the PlumpJack Group (1991), a wine, hospitality and retail company that grew to 23 businesses including wineries, restaurants and hotels
Military service	No
Birthplace	San Francisco, California
Languages	English
Marital status	Married — Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Children	4
Residence	Sacramento County, California (governor's official residence); previously Marin County / Kentfield, California
Notable relatives	Father William A. Newsom III was a California state appeals court judge. His aunt Barbara was married to Ron Pelosi, brother-in-law of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. First wife was Kimberly Guilfoyle (2001-2006).

Wikipedia

Pending research: openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	1998
Previous offices	San Francisco Board of Supervisors (appointed 1997, elected 1998, served until 2004) · Mayor of San Francisco (2004-2011) · Lieutenant Governor of California (2011-2019)
Leadership	40th Governor of California (2019-present) · Mayor of San Francisco (2004-2011) · Lieutenant Governor of California (2011-2019)
Ideology	Center-left Democrat; a 2019 CalMatters analysis described his positions as more moderate than almost every Democratic state legislator. He has self-described as 'a social liberal and a fiscal watchdog.'
Signature legislation	Directed San Francisco to issue same-sex marriage licenses (2004), an early act in the marriage-equality movement · Care Not Cash (Measure N) homelessness program as supervisor/mayor · Healthy San Francisco universal health access program (2007) · Moratorium on the state death penalty via executive order (2019) · Executive order phasing out sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 (2020)

Financial

Net worth: disclosed $6,170,000–$16,710,000 (2023) · estimate

Airelle Wines, Inc.	business_owned · $1,000,000 · 2023
Moswen, LLC	business_owned · $1,000,000 · 2023
Falstaff Management Group, Inc.	business_owned · $1,000,000 · 2023
Balboa Cafe Partners, LP	business_owned · $1,000,000 · 2023
Jennifer Siebel Newsom Blind Trust (mutual funds)	fund · $1,000,000 · 2023
Villa Encinal Partners	business_owned · $1,000,000 · 2023

Scandals & crimes ledger

resolved — FPPC Fine — Late Behested Payment Reports (2019–2024)

campaign-finance · 2019-01-01 · California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) · Stipulated fine of $13,000 paid. Newsom and his 2018 campaign committee ("Newsom for Governor 2018") admitted to 8 counts: one count of failing to timely report subvendor payments on a pre-election campaign statement (Gov. Code §§ 84303, 84211(k)), and seven counts of failing to timely file behested payment reports for 18 payments totaling $14,420,910 made between 2019 and 2024 (Gov. Code § 84224). All reports were eventually filed before FPPC Enforcement Division contact.

The FPPC found that Newsom and his 2018 campaign committee failed to timely disclose 18 behested payments totaling over $14 million, and failed to timely report subvendor payments. The commission approved an $13,000 fine in November 2024. The enforcement division found no intent to conceal; the violations were characterized as negligent.

Sources: FPPC (official stipulation document) · FPPC Enforcement Division Case Results · Cal Coast News

resolved — FPPC Fine — Wildfire-Related Behested Payment Reports (Case No. 25/1196, approved June 2026)

campaign-finance · 2024-01-01 · The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) approved a stipulated fine against Governor Gavin Newsom on June 18, 2026 (Case No. 25/1196) for failing to timely file 18 behested payment reports (covering 36 individual payments) as required under Government Code Section 84224. The payments, totaling roughly $5.5-5.6 million, were made in 2024-2025 largely at Newsom's behest to support recovery from the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton wildfires; 34 of the 36 payments went to the California Fire Foundation. Reports ranged from 64 to 229 days late. The FPPC noted all reports were filed before Enforcement Division contact, and applied an elevated charging threshold ($50,000 instead of the usual $25,000 cap) in recognition of the state-of-emergency circumstances. The FPPC also treated this as a repeat violation, referencing Newsom's prior 2019-2024 behested-payment reporting fine. · Stipulated fine of $31,500 (18 counts at $1,750/count) approved by the FPPC; no admission of intentional wrongdoing, violations characterized as negligent late filings.

In June 2026 the FPPC formally approved a $31,500 stipulated fine against Newsom for 18 counts of late-filed behested payment reports covering roughly $5.5 million in 2024-2025 wildfire-recovery donations (mostly to the California Fire Foundation). This is a formally adjudicated (stipulated) FPPC enforcement action; note it may substantially overlap with an already-recorded entry describing a '$5.5M wildfire-related behested payments' fine listed as resolved in 2024 — that resolution date appears to predate the actual FPPC stipulation, which was not approved until June 18, 2026, with the $31,500 fine amount and case number 25/1196 (also referenced as FPPC No. 2025-01196) confirmed only at that time. Reported here in case the existing entry needs its resolution date/amount/case-number updated rather than as a wholly separate matter.

Sources: FPPC · FPPC · KALW · The Center Square