Newsom's supporters are "all the people who live in North San Francisco, have money and drive their own cars. I'm a renter, not a property owner," said Haight-Ashbury resident Oran Scott as he sold clothes in a secondhand store Wednesday on Haight Street.
"Most of the people who supported Gonzalez have 'Not My President' on their cars," said Scott, 23. "Now it's going to be the same thing, only local: 'Not My Mayor.' "
Across town, at the exclusive Bohemian Club near Union Square, 70-year-old Lowell Sucherman offered a contrasting view. Gonzalez's strong showing was jarring.
"It's shocking and troubling. There are deep divisions in the city now," said Sucherman, a family law attorney who arrived at the club's dark wood lobby for a luncheon. "I think Newsom and the city are headed for a lot of trouble."
Gavin Christopher Newsom grew up with a single mother who juggled several jobs -- as a waitress, secretary and paralegal. A fifth-generation San Franciscan, he is the son of an appellate court judge who divorced his mother when Newsom was young. Widely cast as the candidate of the elite, Newsom grew up without much privilege. He attended Santa Clara University, meeting tuition through loans and a partial baseball scholarship.
He got a taste for public service at an early age, directing a graffiti paint-out initiative in the city's Excelsior neighborhood. While campaigning there before the general election last month, Newsom pointed affectionately to the walls of bakeries and corner stores touched by his own paintbrush years ago.
The stamp of privilege came more recently, as Newsom forged a close relationship with billionaire socialite Gordon Getty. It was Getty who enabled Newsom's success as an entrepreneur. The close family friend -- who describes himself as Newsom's godfather, invested in a series of Newsom's business enterprises beginning a dozen years ago. Among them are his PlumpJack wine, restaurant and resorts.
Getty and his wife also financed Newsom's posh wedding to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a San Francisco prosecutor and former lingerie model who now provides legal commentary for CNN. The Newsoms' $3-million Pacific Heights home was purchased in part with a loan from Getty.
Newsom opponents viciously criticized those connections during the campaign. "He Gettys It," read fliers plastered throughout the city's Haight-Ashbury district with Newsom's picture on them.
Newsom is unapologetic about his ties to Getty.
