As more and more people wonder if California Governor Gavin Newsom would run for president in 2028, one of his most controversial prior scandals is coming back into the news.
Newsom admitted to having an affair with Ruby Rippey Gibney, the wife of his close friend and campaign manager Alex Tourk, while he was mayor of San Francisco in 2007. The news rocked the political establishment in the Bay Area, put a strain on personal and professional connections, and almost ruined his career at the time.
Newsom admitted and apologized on TV at the time.
He said, “I want to make it clear that everything you heard and read is true.” “I’m really sorry about that.” I injured Alex Tourk and his friends and family, who are very important to me. “I have to deal with that.”
His apologies went beyond hurting his own relationships and included those in San Francisco.
He remarked, “I’m also sorry that I’ve let the people of San Francisco down.” “They want a lot from their mayor…” I will work extremely hard in the next few months to make sure that the business of running the city is done in the right way so that they can trust and believe in me again.
LOOK:
Do you remember when Gavin Newsom had sex with his friend’s wife? pic.twitter.com/oiTEAQSf15
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 25, 2025
The fallout happened right away.
Tourk, one of Newsom’s closest friends, quit as the mayor’s chief of staff, and the incident raised bigger questions about trust, responsibility, and the line between personal judgment and public duty.
Newsom’s public apologies didn’t help much either. The scandal got a lot of media attention, was the subject of late-night comedians’ jokes, and offered his opponents more reasons to doubt his honesty. For a lot of voters, the affair was a quick way to show they didn’t trust him.
Even though it hurt his career, Newsom got through the storm and went on to become governor of California. Critics say that the affair will always be a stain on his record that could come back to haunt him if he runs for national office.
Some people have wondered if the connection, which involved a subordinate, may be seen as workplace misbehavior in light of the changes that the #MeToo movement has brought about in political discourse in recent years.
But Gibney has publicly spoken up for Newsom. She wrote on Facebook some years later, “To be clear, I fully support the Me Too movement.” “In this case, though, I’m not sure it applies,”
Gibney admitted that she was a subordinate, but she stressed that the connection was her own fault in order to deflect Newsom’s most serious accusations.
Even so, the topic has never really gone away. It comes back whenever Newsom’s political stature grows on the national stage. He is a smooth talker and a good fundraiser, and many people think he could run in 2028. But as rumors grow, so do memories of his past.
If he runs, the problem would be clear: Newsom will have to deal with a scandal that has been following him for almost twenty years while also talking about his record as governor.
Last week, Newsom seemed to agree with physical violence against Trump supporters, if not Republicans in general, in a crazy outburst on a podcast.
The governor’s comments come at a time when he is having trouble controlling his anger over Texas’s mid-decade redistricting effort, which aims to create five more Republican congressional seats. He has promised to fight this by redistricting seats in California, even though the state’s Democratic congressional delegation is already too big.
Newsom said, “This is radical rigging of a midterm election.” He said on “The Siren” podcast, “Destroying and vandalizing this democracy, the rule of law.”
“I’m sorry, I know how some people feel. I value and respect that. But right now, with all due respect, we’re going down a very different path, he said. “We’re going to punch these sons of b****es in the mouth because we’re fighting fire with fire.”