‘Windfall’: Gov. Newsom sells Marin County mansion for $5.9 million

There’s never a bad time to sell a house at twice what you paid for it — unless maybe in the middle of a gubernatorial recall election.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sold his Marin County mansion for $5,895,000 million, more than two times the 2011 purchase price of $2,225,000, according to Realtor.com.

The profitable sale earned a hearty congratulations from Republican recall frontrunner Larry Elder.

“Congratulations to Gavin Newsom on the $5.9 million sale of his Marin Mansion!” tweeted Mr. Elder.

The sale, which occurred in May but was reported Tuesday, came at a fraught moment for Mr. Newsom, who faces a Sept. 14 recall vote fed in part by the perception that his wealth and status have insulated him from the impacts of own policies.

For example, Mr. Newsom was widely criticized for violating his own pandemic guidelines by attending a maskless birthday party without social distancing in November at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant. He later apologized.

Congratulations to Gavin Newsom on the $5.9 million sale of his Marin Mansion! https://t.co/OhTqiJ6Ink

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) August 17, 2021

The 4,000-square-foot house on 1.38 acres in the Kent Woodlands was originally listed at $6 million in January 2019 but “slid off the market without a buyer,” said the website.

“But in late May of this year, an off-market deal was struck—at close to the original asking price,” said Realtor.com. “This represents a windfall for Newsom, who purchased the place in 2011 for $2,225,000. The embattled Democrat currently faces a recall election by a segment of voters unhappy with COVID-19 measures taken during the pandemic.”

Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who previously served as lieutenant governor, moved into a $3.7 million, 12,000-square-foot mansion in the Sacramento area shortly after winning the 2018 gubernatorial race, according to a 2019 report in the Sacramento Bee.

Critics on social media pointed out that Mr. Elder, a longtime Los Angeles radio host and author, is also flush with an estimated net worth of between $16 million and $18 million.