Democrats Hold Onto San Francisco Mayor's Office, Defeating Green Party Ma

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Democrat Gavin Newsom fended off a strong Green Party challenger in the race for mayor, becoming the youngest person to head the city in more than a century and preserving control of a post that Democrats couldn't afford to lose.

Newsom, a wealthy restaurateur backed by most of the city's political establishment, received 118,651 votes, or 53 percent, in Tuesday's runoff election. The Greens' Matt Gonzalez, a city supervisor and former public defender who surrounded himself with artists, activists and earnest volunteers, got 107,030 votes, or 47 percent.

"This feels pretty good, doesn't it?" Newsom said in his victory speech. "There's a reason why we are the shining light for the rest of the state and the nation, and it's the extraordinary diversity of San Francisco."

As many as 20,000 absentee and provisional ballots remained to be counted, but Gonzalez conceded defeat after the election, which drew a 50 percent voter turnout and a record number of absentee ballots.

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