San Diego County supervisor Nathan Fletcher (D.) announced his resignation last week after two women accused him of sexual assault. Hours later, California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) featured Fletcher in a video announcing a multimillion-dollar campaign to unseat Republicans.
The launch video for Newsom's Campaign for Democracy PAC includes footage of Fletcher marching just behind Newsom after the governor's January inauguration. Newsom's PAC, which he launched Thursday with a $10 million injection from his gubernatorial campaign, aims to fight "extremist Republicans" around the country who are "attacking the very foundations of our free society," including those "denying women equality."
Newsom has yet to comment on the allegations against Fletcher, whose ascent in California Democratic circles came to an abrupt end in late March. On March 26, Fletcher announced that he was pulling out of his State Senate race and checking into rehab to address his PTSD and alcohol abuse issues. On March 29, a woman accused Fletcher of sexually assaulting her when she worked as a 19-year-old intern in his office.
The same day, a second woman accused Fletcher in a lawsuit of stalking her on social media and kissing and groping her without her consent. The second accuser also alleged that Fletcher's wife, a powerful California union leader, tried to intimidate her from coming forward and threatened to make her "look terrible" if she filed her complaint against Fletcher, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Newsom and Fletcher have a long personal history, which Fletcher has documented on social media. The disgraced city leader confirmed in a Jan. 6 tweet that he marched behind Newsom across the Tower Bridge in Old Sacramento, saying it was an "honor" to join in Newsom's second inauguration as California governor.
It was an honor to join the 2nd Inauguration of Governor @GavinNewsom. I appreciate his leadership in his first term and am excited to see all that is to come! pic.twitter.com/S7lQOZ9SAV
— Nathan Fletcher (@nathanfletcher) January 7, 2023
Fletcher in an October 2018 Facebook post complimented Newsom's "surprising skills on a surfboard," posting a picture that shows the pair posing side by side, wearing full-body wetsuits, and holding a single yellow surfboard.
Fletcher's misdeeds could pose problems for Newsom as the governor seeks to catapult himself to national prominence. While Newsom has billed himself as a proud supporter of women and an ally of the #MeToo movement, he has his own sordid history with women. In 2007, while he served as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom held a press conference confirming reports that he had an affair with the wife of his close friend and campaign manager Alex Tourk.
Newsom's campaign and the Campaign for Democracy PAC did not respond to requests for comment.