By Steven T. Jones

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has been holding an increasing number of out-of-town fundraisers – with even more planned for the rest of the year – in an effort to close a nearly half-million-dollar debt left over from his 2003 mayoral campaign.

That campaign was the most expensive in San Francisco history, with Newsom spending more than $5.2 million and ending up with about $550,000 in debt. In the process, it transformed the Mayor's Office into one that requires never-ending fundraising and has left Newsom deeply indebted to some of the city's most high-profile kingmakers.

As of this January the Newsom campaign was still in the hole by $414,817, according to semiannual campaign filings. By contrast, the Matt Gonzalez mayoral campaign spent about $900,000 and was still $28,000 in debt as of January. "His entire debt was more than 50 percent of our entire budget. That's a lot of money," Gonzalez told us. Political consultant Eric Jaye, who ran the Newsom campaign and whose Storefront Political Communications firm is owed about $138,000, told us the plan is to have all the mayor's debts paid off by the end of this year.

"All the bills will be paid and are being paid on schedule," Jaye said, adding, "It's not unusual at all for a campaign to end up with some debt."

Yet it is unusual for a debt this large to linger this long. Political reform advocate Bob Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies said it's extremely problematic for campaigns to be so expensive that officeholders must spend their entire terms raising money.

"Then, it becomes more like government-access contributions instead of campaign contributions," he said.

This dynamic also gives a tremendous political advantage to the incumbent. Other cities have recognized this as a problem and taken steps to address it. Los Angeles, for example, requires all candidates to pay off campaign debts within six months and bans off-year fundraising.

Part of the problem Newsom has had closing his debt is the fact that most of those in San Francisco inclined to donate have already given the maximum $750 donation and therefore can't contribute again until a new campaign cycle. So Newsom has had to look to other regions. Recent fundraising stops include New York City, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and San Diego.

"The bottom line is the mayor has a big campaign debt, and he has to work to reduce it," mayoral spokesperson Peter Ragone said.

The national acclaim Newsom garnered over his efforts to legalize same-sex marriage has helped the fundraising effort. "His career is very much followed in the gay press," Ragone said, adding that it helps to publicize his fundraisers.

Among others still owed money by the campaign are consultant Jack Davis ($36,000), attorney Jim Sutton ($37,000), and campaign workers turned political appointees Joyce Newstat and Heather Hiles ($15,000 each). All four were scheduled to get money from the Newsom inaugural committee before an inadvertently released document that seemed to show a plan to illegally pay campaign debts with unregulated corporate donations for the inauguration was made public (see "Newsom's Funny Money," 2/11/04). Sutton has denied that such a plan would have been implemented.

Local reformer Charlie Marsteller, former head of S.F.'s Common Cause chapter, said the lingering debt, the inaugural committee shenanigans, and Newsom's reliance on top-tier political advisors adds up to the fact that Newsom is spending more money than the local rules intended.

"He wouldn't have these problems if he'd spent a more reasonable amount to get elected," Marsteller said. "He tapped out a lot of donors ... so he really kind of exceeded the donor base limits of San Francisco."

E-mail Steven T. Jones at steve@sfbg.com.