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Newsom pulls out of governor's race
Phil Matier, Andrew Ross,Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Staff Writers
Friday, October 30, 2009
(10-30) 15:37 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Hamstrung by both a lack of money and political momentum, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom withdrew from the California governor's race today.
"With a young family and responsibilities at City Hall, I have found it impossible to commit the time required to complete this effort the way it needs to - and should be - done," Newsom said in a statement.
"This is not an easy decision," he said. "But it is one made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco, and California Democrats."
Newsom's withdrawal leaves state Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has yet to declare his candidacy, as the lone major Democrat in the 2010 race.
The latest Field Poll showed Brown with a 20-point advantage over Newsom, double the lead he held in March.
Brown also has been raising far more money than Newsom. Through June, he reported bringing in $7.4 million more than the mayor.
Before announcing his withdrawal, Newsom abruptly canceled a campaign event that had been scheduled for tonight in Southern California, setting off speculation among his fundraisers that he was pulling out.
At a City Hall news conference dealing with the bay oil spill, Newsom was asked whether he would be in town this weekend. He said he would be, and that reporters "would have a political story Sunday." He did not elaborate.
For Newsom - who reported having just $1.2 million on hand as of June - the task of raising enough money to challenge Brown was daunting. Recent spending reports show that even a big Los Angeles fundraiser with former President Bill Clinton pulled in just 13 individual contributions over $5,000 - hardly the kind of cash haul to signal Newsom would be able to mount a serious challenge.
That effort was made more difficult by the fact that Democratic Party officials had pressured the mayor to refrain from attacking Brown and perhaps damaging him in the general election.
Newsom was portraying himself as a candidate of change, largely by targeting his appeal to young voters with a heavy Internet presence and online fundraising. But one chief advocate of that effort to push Newsom in social networking, Eric Jaye, left as his campaign manager earlier this year in a nasty split with the mayor. Some observers believe the campaign never recovered.
There had been speculation Newsom might settle for a spot in the lieutenant governor's race, with Brown at the top of the ticket. The mayor did not address that or anything else about his future in today's statement. His term as mayor runs through January 2012.
"I will continue to fight for change and the causes and issues for which I care deeply - universal health care, a cleaner environment, and a green economy for our families, better education for our children, and, of course, equal rights under the law for all citizens," Newsom said.
E-mail the writers at [email protected] and [email protected].
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