A mayor in trouble

A big city mayor with his eyes on the governor's mansion runs into messy personal problems with a divorce and questions over his dating habits. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa? No. Look north, to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is up for re-election and is facing a difficult campaign, says the S.F. Weekly
It begins:

"Except for insurgent Matt Gonzalez entering the race at the last minute and nearly pulling off an upset, Gavin Newsom's 2003 campaign for mayor came off perfectly.

"Consultants Eric Jaye and Jim Ross helped cook up a ballot initiative centered on the then-hot issue of homelessness. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the initiative did not count against the $500 limit on individual donations to the mayor's own campaign. The money, and the Care Not Cash message, helped push Newsom ahead in the home stretch.

"In 2007, the reverse is true: Aside from polls saying Newsom enjoys about two thirds voter approval and faces no viable opponent, the mayor's re-election campaign is unfolding disastrously.

That's because this fall's campaign for mayor is a preamble to his likely bid for the 2010 race for governor. "