San Francisco mayor, a rising Democrat, reelected

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a rising star among Democrats who made headlines during his first term by briefly allowing gay marriage, appears to have easily won re-election in Tuesday's vote.

Under a change in the way ballots are counted, city election officials said it could take days to know the final numbers, although they said 78 percent of the absentee ballots favored Newsom and he had no serious opposition.

Speaking to supporters at a party on Tuesday to thank voters and discuss his second term, Newsom said of San Francisco: "The world looks to us to do things like health care, to be the pace car on the environment."

In the famously gay-friendly Californian city, Newsom, 40, shot up in popularity soon after first taking office in 2004 when he defied a statewide law that defined marriage as a union between and a man and a woman.

After several weeks, a court ordered the city to stop allowing homosexuals to marry, and the issue remains in litigation.

The handsome mayor with slicked back hair cut a dashing figure but suffered a series of personal setbacks during his first term. He and his glamorous wife divorced not long after they posed together in Harper's Bazaar, which called the pair "the New Kennedys".

Early this year Newsom admitted having an affair with his appointments secretary who was the wife of his campaign manager. He also said he would seek counseling for alcohol abuse.

Liberal San Francisco took the turmoil in stride and Newsom remained so popular that no major opponent ran against him. The reelection campaign generated little local interest even with longshots such as a sex club owner and a nudist seeking the position.

(Reporting by Adam Tanner; Editing by David Storey)