Who Is Ruby Rippey's Ex-Husband Alex Tourk? Inside His Life After Gavin Newsom's Affair Scandal
Ruby Rippey's ex-husband, Alex Tourk, was one of Gavin Newsom's closest political advisers when he discovered that his wife had been having an affair with the then-San Francisco mayor.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleNearly two decades after California Governor Gavin Newsom's affair with former aide Ruby Rippey shook San Francisco politics, the scandal is making headlines again following Rippey's candid Vanity Fair essay. While much of the renewed attention has focused on Newsom and Rippey, many are also revisiting the story of Alex Tourk, the political strategist who was Newsom's close friend, top adviser, and Rippey's husband when the affair unfolded.
Here's everything to know about Tourk, how he reacted after learning of the affair, and where he is now, nearly 20 years after the public fallout.
How did Alex Tourk discover Ruby Rippey's affair with Gavin Newsom?
In her first-person essay, Rippey candidly opened up about being Newsom's mistress, revealing that she kept the affair secret for months when she stayed in rehab for her addiction struggles. When she left rehab in May 2006, Tourk was still working every day for the very man with whom she had been unfaithful. She recalled:
"When I return home from rehab nearly two months later, I try to resume life as a wife and mother. Meanwhile, Alex leaves each morning for City Hall—for the man I have betrayed him with, still unaware of what had happened between us."
Unable to live with the secret any longer, Rippey finally confessed on January 13, 2007. She confessed to Tourk via an email and admitted that she had been having an affair with his boss, Newsom, who was serving as Mayor at that time. "I begin drafting an email... just sex—on and off for months—with the mayor. It ended before rehab. I'm sorry. I blame my alcoholism."
When Ruby returned home the following day, she found a devastated husband waiting for her. "His face is drained of color," she emotionally recalls. "He looks at me in a way I do not recognize. His voice is careful, measured... He says he needs a few weeks to think. Then he packs a bag and leaves."
According to Rippey, Tourk later requested a meeting with Newsom after the mayor returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She recalled that Tourk wanted to hear the truth directly from the man he had worked for so loyally. She revealed"
"For years, he answered late-night calls from his boss, sacrificed weekends without hesitation... He wants to hear it directly—to look him in the eye one last time. There is no straight answer."
Soon afterward, Newsom publicly admitted the affair during a televised press conference, saying, "Everything you've heard and read is true." The revelation forced Tourk to resign as Newsom's 2007 reelection campaign manager, marking one of the biggest political crises of Newsom's early career.
Who is Alex Tourk? His life after the scandal
Alex Tourk is a veteran political strategist, public affairs consultant, and founder of Ground Floor Public Affairs, a San Francisco-based government relations and advocacy firm he launched in 2007 after leaving City Hall. Following the scandal, he largely stepped away from electoral politics and built a successful career in public affairs.
Before entering the private sector, Tourk spent more than 15 years in Bay Area politics, serving under both former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and later Gavin Newsom.
Today, Alex Tourk also serves as the Managing Director of sf.citi (San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation), a nonprofit organization that works with the city's technology sector while continuing to lead Ground Floor Public Affairs, which he founded in 2007.
Why Ruby Rippey finally spoke up after almost two decades
One of the key reasons Rippey chose to break nearly 20 years of silence was to challenge how Newsom recounted the affair in his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry. Newsom described their relationship as "the briefest of affairs" and wrote that he was the one who "came clean" to Tourk. However, Rippey says that's not how it happened. She wrote in her essay:
"He also writes that he was the one who 'came clean' to Alex. That detail—subtle but significant—is the one that stays with me... one that leaves the unmistakable impression that he, not I, was the one who told Alex the truth."
The former aide also reflected on how her perspective has evolved over the years, acknowledging both her own responsibility and the power imbalance between a mayor and his subordinate. "Both things are true: I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly."
It took more than a decade before Tourk could fully reconnect with Rippey, but their relationship gradually healed through family gatherings and shared parenting. Now 20 years sober, Rippey says she has rebuilt her life, remarried, and found peace after years of addiction and public scrutiny. While the affair permanently changed her life, it ultimately became the catalyst for her recovery.
Rippey has since been married to Ryan Gibney, and her relationship with Tourk has now reached an amicable co-parenting bond. In November 2025, Ruby and Ryan attended Tourk's wedding to his third wife, indicating the former spouses have happily moved on.
As Rippey herself said in her essay, "We lost the marriage. We didn't lose the ability to become another version of a family. The damage was mine. But so is the life rebuilt in its wake."
Image courtesy: Ground Floor Public Affairs website, Ruby Rippey/Instagram
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