California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, who is already running for governor in 2018, is tapping his base in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to raise money for this campaign and build voter support. Newsom rraised $2.7 million for his prospective 2016 gubernatorial campaign between February and June, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
As mayor of San Francisco in 2004, Newsom ignored the law and married thousands of gay and lesbian couples at City Hall,
Within the last month, Newsom encouraged supporters to donate to his “Team Gavin.” boosters. With the addition of the funds from February to June., Newsom has amassed $5.5 million cash.
Newsom is counting on his LGBT supporters to lead the charge for him, and the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide has elicited a renewed show of support for the former mayor. Dan Newman of SCN Strategies, which is guiding Newsom’s gubernatorial run, told the Chronicle that after the decision, LGBT supporters continually contacted Newsom, many of them “in tears, with moving stories about how his actions helped their family.”
Democratic political consultant Garry South added that Newsom “will be looked at as prescient, way ahead of his time. Because this issue most likely would never have ended up in front of the Supreme Court if Gavin Newsom didn’t take that action.”
As mayor in 2007, Newsom also vowed to keep San Francisco a Sanctuary City for illegal aliens, saying of federal immigration raids, “”I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids. We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it.”
Newsom launched the first universal health program in the United States in 2007, called the Health Choices plan; backed the legalization of marijuana in 2015; and has warned that there is no greater issue facing Californians than climate change.
Other Democratic candidates in the 2016 gubernatorial race include former state controller and gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly, who has already announced his intention to run, and billionaire climate change activist Tom Steyer, who has not announced but is considered a potential contender.
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