San Francisco
mayor Gavin Newsom is rumored to be eyeing a run for
California governor to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger at the
completion of his second term. The race,
scheduled for 2010, may have a crowded field on
the Democratic side, including current attorney general
and former governor Jerry Brown, former state controller
Steve Westly, and Los Angeles mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, according to the San Francisco
Chronicle.
While Newsom has
yet to confirm his plans, he's said that many people
have approached him about it in recent months. "It's
premature to talk about it in the open," he continued.
"In the next few months we'll see what happens."
Newsom has been a
key figure in controversial issues: universal health
care, aid for illegal immigrants, and same-sex marriage,
which the state legislature tried to legalize on two
separate occasions via bills that Schwarzenegger
vetoed. Newsom famously allowed gay and lesbian couples to
marry at San Francisco City Hall in February 2004, though
those marriages were nullified by the courts later.
On March 4, the
day the California supreme court heard
arguments regarding the constitutionality of the state
ban on same-sex marriage, Newsom called the
current governor's stance one that "represents
yesterday."
"This governor
represents yesterday on this issue," Newsom said last
week to reporters regarding same-sex marriage. "There'll be
a governor who represents the future, and the next
governor will unquestionably, in my mind, if it's a
Democrat, support it." (The Advocate)