Gavin Newsom is a Democratic politician and the 40th governor of California, entering office in January 2019. With over 20 years of political experience in the Golden State, Newsom previously served as the lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and was elected the mayor of San Francisco in 2004. As the leader of the biggest and most populated state, Newsom is considered one of the country’s most influential Democrats.

Newsom is a native of San Francisco, the son of William Newsom, an appeal judge for California Courts. Before he entered elected office, Newsom worked in the private sector, starting a winery funding he raised from investors, including billionaire Gordon Getty. Newsom eventually sold his winery shares in 2004 after being elected mayor of San Francisco.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Newsom faced widespread criticism after he was pictured breaking his own health guidelines while dining inside a luxurious restaurant in Napa Valley. The image showed Newsom dining maskless with a large group of close friends and political allies, including California lobbyists, while celebrating his birthday. The scandal helped grow support around the effort to recall the governor, gaining more than 2 million signatures to trigger a recall election.

However, Newsom went on to defeat the recall attempt by over 3 million votes, defeating conservative talk show host Larry Elder, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and a dozen other candidates. He will face another election in November 2022, but has already won the state’s Democratic nomination with 61% of the vote.

Under Newsom’s administration, California has seen a large exodus of its urban and rural population to other states such as Texas and Florida. Many experts have blamed the depopulation partly due to the state’s high living costs for gas and rent and Newsom’s tax policy — the highest in the nation.

In the United States, Mass shootings are widely classified as incidents in which a shooter kills at least four or more victims. The rise of mass shootings has been closely associated with calls for more regulations on firearms through the state and federal governments. In general, mass shootings are now classified in news media as events where a shooter kills a large group of individuals.

Some mass shootings may involve gang violence, domestic violence, or terrorist acts. Several data centers and media outlets label the United States as the country with the most mass shootings annually in the world. However, mass shootings account for a small portion of the annual homicides, crimes, and deaths in the country. According to Mother Jones, between 1982 and 2022, the United States had on record 133 mass shootings, with most of those shootings occurring during the early 2000s and the present.

The deadliest mass shooting occurred on October 1, 2017, when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd from his hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, killing 59 individuals and injuring 867 others. In the aftermath of the shooting, the US Justice Department under former President Donald Trump banned bump stocks; however, the action is still under review by the Supreme Court.

Nancy Pelosi is an American Democratic politician and former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Elected to Congress in 1987, she is one of the most senior Democratic Party leaders and represents California’s 11th Congressional District. Under her second term as Speaker, the House impeached former President Donald Trump twice, but he was acquitted both times by the Senate.

Pelosi is the daughter of another political powerbroker, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., who served in the House and was the mayor of Baltimore. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, is a venture capital investor who owns his consulting and real estate firm. The couple has a combined net worth estimated to be $120 million. In May 2022, her husband was arrested in Napa County for a DUI after crashing into another vehicle and released on bail at $5,000.

As Speaker under the Obama administration, Pelosi was pivotal in the passage of several key legislation such as the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act. In 2010 she lost her Speakership after Republicans gained over 63 seats — one of the largest victories in the history of Congress.

During the Trump administration, Pelosi had a contentious relationship with the 45th president that played out in public and private settings. For over a month between December 2018 and January 2019, the federal government shut down after Democratic leaders, including Pelosi, could not agree with “Trump” over an appropriations bill to fund the construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. It was the largest government shutdown in U.S. history. Moreover, moments after Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech to Congress, Pelosi ripped up her copy of his remarks.