Whitman Raises Millions More Than Newsom

Former eBay CEO outspends San Francisco mayor in gubernatorial campaign as well

Mayor Gavin Newsom isn't as popular on Twitter as many suspected.

The social-networking loving mayor is trailing far behind several of his fellow gubernatorial candidates in campaign contributions received, according to a new study.

California's Fair Political Practices Commission released how much declared candidates for state offices, including governor, raised for their campaigns during the first six months of 2009. And the study shows Mayor Newsom is trailing the queen of campaign fundraising, Republican candidate Meg Whitman, by a huge margin.

The former eBay CEO received $10,813,933 from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2009, according to the study. By comparison, Newsom only raised $1,710,949. Whitman actually outspent Newsom's campaign by $6,154,147 to $1,342,181.

The mayor made a strong push to raise funds online, and to draw young voters, via social networking sites Twitter and Facebook. Newsom also visited Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters shortly after declaring his candidacy for governor on Twitter.

And just last month Newsom lost the brains behind his online campaign and his longtime political strategist Eric Jaye because of a "fundamental difference in how to run the campaign."

The mayor is also trailing Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who raised $4,542,885.

The commission's staff collected the data from reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission. The study shows that more than $60 million dollars was raised for races across the state, some still up to five years away.
 

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