How One Scandal Could Haunt Ne

The secret Gavin Newsom survived once may not stay buried a second time.

As Democrats quietly scan the horizon beyond Biden and Harris, a 20-year-old

betrayal is being reexamined under a far harsher light. It isn’t just about an affair.

Long before Gavin Newsom became the polished, camera-ready governor floated as a

future president, he was a young San Francisco mayor whose career nearly collapsed overnight.

His affair with Ruby Rippey Gibney didn’t just shatter a marriage; it detonated a friendship with Alex Tourk, his closest aide and campaign manager.

The betrayal cut through the heart of his inner circle and exposed a deeply personal hypocrisy that clashed with his progressive branding.

Newsom’s tearful, unequivocal public apology helped him survive, and time, success, and higher office slowly pushed the scandal into the background.

But in a post-#MeToo era, what was once framed as a private moral failing now raises sharper questions about power, workplace dynamics, and judgment.

If he runs in 2028, that old story will return—weaponized, reframed, and amplified.

His future may depend on whether voters see a flawed man who changed, or a pattern they can’t ignore.