G. Newsom

Who's in Gavin Newsom's orbit?

By Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte

07/10/2023 08:00 AM UTC

Gavin Newsom casts a wide net for advice. His inner circle is considerably smaller.

California’s Democratic governor — who’s become an increasingly active surrogate for President Joe Biden as 2024 approaches — is an inveterate texter who will tap out messages to a wide array of business executives, lawmakers and policy experts in Sacramento and beyond. But Newsom still relies on a core group of advisers — many of them San Francisco political veterans who have been with him since his days as a businessman-turned-mayor.

Those counselors have helped guide Newsom’s rise over the past two decades as force in California politics — including his triumph over a recall effort in 2021 and his more recent emergence as a national Democratic figure. They’ll likely be there should he launch a presidential run in the coming years.

Here’s our breakdown of the Newsomverse, based on interviews with dozens of people who know the governor and have worked with him.

Click on a groupto explore who’s a part of it.

Click on a group to explore who’s a part of it.

K. Bertolina Faust

S. Roumeliotes

R. Baukol

A. Patterson

A. York

D. Williamson

C. Bouma

M. Ghaly

D. Myers

L. Sanchez

J. Stephenshaw

J. Elliott

W. Crowfoot

B. Prowda

L. Cobia

P. Ragone

A. Smith

S. Clegg

D. Newman

B. Brokaw

D. Binder

J. Rodriguez

N. Click

J. Blumenfeld

J. DeBoo

J. Kinney

J. Siebel Newsom

D. Hendrickson

D. Smith

H. Newsom

A. Padilla

N. Pelosi

M. Benioff

W. Brown

J. Wunderman

S. Kawa

Kristin Bertolina Faust

Fundrasier

Faust is based out of Sacramento and is Newsom’s point person in the capital city’s money world, in addition to working for numerous Democratic clients. She also managed Padilla’s 2022 Senate reelection campaign.

Stefanie Roumeliotes

Fundraiser

The San Francisco-based Roumeliotes is a conduit to the city's deep cash reserves. She has also raised funds for a wide array of national and California elected officials like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ryan Baukol

Fundraiser

The Southern California arm of the Newsom fundraising trifecta, complementing Faust and Roumeliotes. He was also the Biden campaign’s SoCal money man in 2020, and his California clients have included Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Ann Patterson

Legal Affairs Secretary

One of Newsom's top cabinet officials, Patterson has long been a key source of legal advice. She is part of an inner circle of decisionmakers who meet regularly with the governor.

Anthony York

Senior Adviser for Communications and Strategy

Newsom’s chief media-wrangler since early 2022. York advises the governor on communication strategy, handles a staff of press secretaries and spokespeople, and typically acts as the go-between for journalists and the governor. You can find him herding reporters at gaggles and fielding complaints about Newsom’s spontaneity from an exasperated Capitol press corps.

Dana Williamson

Chief of Staff

Williamson is a longtime pro in the campaign sphere and a Jerry Brown alum who just joined Team Newsom following his reelection in 2022. Unlike some others close to the governor, the two don’t have a particularly storied history together.

Christy Bouma

Legislative Affairs Secretary

Bouma has been Newsom's chief liaison to the Legislature since 2022 and played an instrumental role that year in collecting votes for Newsom's late — and largely successful — climate change push. She is a veteran of Sacramento politics whose former lobbying shop represented politically influential groups like firefighters.

Mark Ghaly

Health and Human Services Secretary

Ghaly was a key political player during Covid-19. He frequently made appearances with the governor to update the public on transmission and safety guidelines. Newsom, on more than one occasion, has called him "California's Dr. Fauci" (including to the actual Dr. Fauci.)

Dee Dee Myers

Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development

Myers had a sparkling resume that included press secretary to President Bill Clinton when Newsom hired her in late 2020 to run California’s business agency. That has given her a central role in guiding the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic and helping to keep major employers in the state.

Lauren Sanchez

Senior Climate Adviser

Lauren is Newsom's go-to climate change policy adviser in the administration. She's a key person given his focus on the area.

Joe Stephenshaw

Director of the Department of Finance

The yearly budget is one of the governor’s most important responsibilities, and as head of DOF, Stephenshaw works closely with Newsom.

Jason Elliott

Homelessness adviser

Elliott has worked for Newsom since the governor's San Francisco days and is now his point person on housing and homelessness, two major agenda-leading issues.

Wade Crowfoot

Natural Resources Secretary

Crowfoot is one of Newsom's top environmental officials. His relationship with the governor stretches back to the San Francisco days, when Crowfoot rose through the ranks by serving as then-Mayor Newsom's liaison to the Board of Supervisors and eventually becoming his top climate aide.

Becca Prowda

Director of Protocol

In an orbit where time served builds trust, Prowda can boast signing onto Team Newsom early. She was deputy director of protocol for Mayor Newsom, departing for San Francisco-based Levi Strauss before joining the Newsom gubernatorial administration, and is married to a prominent San Francisco philanthropist.

Lindsey Cobia

Executive Director, Campaign for Democracy

Cobia was physically with Newsom more than most as his deputy chief of staff. She now heads his "Campaign for Democracy" committee venturing into red states.

Peter Ragone

Adviser

Ragone and Newsom go back to the governor’s mayoral days, when Ragone was communications director during a particularly tumultuous stretch. He has remained active in California politics, informally advising Newsom and most recently serving as a spokesperson for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.

Ace Smith

Campaign adviser

A partner at Bearstar strategies, the powerhouse political consulting firm that ran Newsom's campaigns and whose clients include A-list California elected officials. Smith also helped fend off a 2021 effort to recall Newsom.

Sean Clegg

Campaign adviser

Clegg is Smith's partner at Bearstar. He once worked for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa but has worked for Newsom for over a decade and, in 2018, helped Newsom defeat Villaraigosa for governor.

Dan Newman

Political adviser and spokesperson

Newman is a veteran Democratic consultant who has worked on multiple Newsom campaigns and used to be a partner with Sean Clegg and Ace Smith. Newman split from their firm (he was the "N" in "SCN Strategies") but he retains Newsom's trust and sometimes serves as an intermediary to the governor on campaign matters.

Brian Brokaw

Political, PR and communications adviser

Brokaw frequently serves as a liaison for the first partner on personal and professional business and is a friend of the family.

David Binder

Pollster

Binder is Newsom's pollster. He brings experience with national politics, which could come in handy should Newsom use his national profile to launch a presidential run.

Juan Rodriguez

Campaign adviser

Rodriguez is a partner with Smith and Clegg who led the successful defense against an attempt to recall Newsom. Rodriguez serves as a political fixer and a conduit for Newsom to many national Democrats, including in Biden world. He previously led then-Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Nathan Click

Spokesperson

Click is a ubiquitous presence and the hub of Newsom’s political comms wheel, serving as the press point person on ventures from Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign to his new PAC funding Democrats in other states.

Jared Blumenfeld

Climate counselor

Blumenfeld directed San Francisco's environment department when Newsom was mayor more than a decade years ago. When Newsom became governor, he chose Blumenfeld to run the California Environmental Protection Agency. Blumenfeld left the administration in 2022 but he and Newsom still talk and occasionally go hiking together.

Jim DeBoo

Former Chief of Staff

Newsom brought DeBoo on as chief of staff during a rough patch, when he needed a seasoned Sacramento player to deal with the fallout from Covid-19 restrictions and a mounting recall effort. DeBoo is a veteran of Sacramento politics who won Newsom's trust thanks to his deep knowledge of the Legislature's mechanics.

Jason Kinney

Lobbyist

Longtime friend, confidante and adviser of Newsom. The governor faced a huge backlash after he attended Kinney’s 50th birthday celebration at the French Laundry, an opulent restaurant, as he was urging Californians to avoid large gatherings.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

First Partner

Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the governor’s second wife and a strong influence on his decision making — often advocating for classrooms and childcare funding. Outside of her role as First Partner, she is an actress and filmmaker. Her parents are wealthy Montana Republicans.

Doug Hendrickson

NFL agent and friend

Hendrickson is one of Newsom’s longtime friends, whom he met playing college baseball. Today, Hendrickson is a San Francisco-based NFL agent. His wife, Shyla, acts as the trustee for Newsom’s business assets. In 2021, the governor appointed him to the State Athletic Commission.

Derek Smith

Friend

Smith is a friend and teammate from high school whom Newsom has called "One of my oldest friends."

Hilary Newsom

Sister

His sister Hilary lives in Marin and is president of Plumpjack, the winery business the two own together.

Alex Padilla

U.S. Senator

California's junior U.S. senator is a longtime Newsom ally and an important source of Los Angeles support for the Bay-Area-born Newsom. Padilla chaired Newsom's short-lived 2010 gubernatorial campaign and endorsed Newsom for governor in 2018 over former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Newsom rewarded Padilla's loyalty by appointing him to succeed Vice President Kamala Harris when she left the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi

Congresswoman

Like Newsom, Pelosi rose from San Francisco to national politics. She is also family: Her husband's brother was married to Newsom's aunt. They communicate regularly.

Marc Benioff

Salesforce CEO

The CEO of San Francisco employer Salesforce and likely Newsom's closest tech industry friend. Benioff is the godfather of Newsom's first-born and is a major player in the San Francisco political arena where Newsom got his start.

Willie Brown

Mentor

Then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown gave Newsom his start by appointing him to the San Francisco Parking and Traffic Commission in 1996 and then to the Board of Supervisors. Newsom would succeed Brown as mayor, joining San Francisco's rarefied "city family," and Brown has long been a mentor and advocate.

Jim Wunderman

Bay Area Council CEO

San Francisco's business community was an early pillar of support for Newsom, and the governor continues to be sympathetic to business interests. Wunderman has long been active in San Francisco politics and currently runs the Bay Area Council, a coalition that includes a panoply of prominent Bay Area companies.

Steve Kawa

Former Chief of Staff

Kawa was Newsom's chief of staff when he was mayor, helping him to navigate the often turbulent and treacherous waters of San Francisco politics using skills honed working for Willie Brown. He is someone Newsom still seeks for political advice.