SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ended speculation Friday, announcing he is running for lieutenant governor of California and calling for a special election to choose his replacement.

“Let’s dispense with the pageantry of well maybe tomorrow,” Newson told KTVU.”It’s absolutely official; I’m jumping into the race.”

Newsom said state Sen. Dean Florez from Kern County was dropping out of the race to back his candidacy and added he has gained the support of a powerful lineup of national and state politicians including Speaker of the U.S. House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Assembly Speaker John Perez and State Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg among others.

“There were two things I had to resolve,” said Newsom of the decision making process. “My capacity to be an effective mayor and also to be a good husband and father to my newborn baby… My wife and my daughter spent time this weekend and officially decided that they were 100 percent onboard.”

Newsom said he would conduct this campaign the same way he did his gubernatorial efforts earlier this year. The San Francisco mayor bowed out of that race because of the fundraising pressures of an election that includes multi-millionaires Meg Whitman and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on the Republican side and Attorney General Jerry Brown on the Democratic side.

“We'll do town halls, we'll take the tough questions, we'll go to every county,” he said. “We'll make our case on universal health care – we (San Francisco County) are the only county in the state with universal health care…On universal preschool…On economic development.”

Newsom said he hoped that if he won election and if SF District Attorney Kamala Harris was successful in her campaign for state Attorney General, the often divided San Francisco Board of Supervisors would have an immediate special election to bring in replacements and not attempt to merely appoint people to those posts.

As it currently stands, if elected Newsom would remain mayor until taking the seat in January 2011. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu would then become mayor until the board, by a vote of six or greater, appointed an interim mayor.

“I hope something does change,” he said. “I hope the Board of Supervisors places on the ballot or a petition the people place on the ballot calls for a special election provision that if a mayor or a district attorney – if there is a vacancy for any significant office -- the people should have a voice…Even if I lose, that (having such a law on the books) is the right thing to do. “

Newsom also attempted to deflect the criticism that plagued his gubernatorial campaign – that he could not be an effective mayor and run for another office at the same time.

“That was legit (the criticism his gubernatorial campaign generated),” he told KTVU. “I was in 15, 16 states trying to raise tens of millions of dollars to compete against someone like Meg Whitman. This (the race for lt. governor) is a completely different race…It’s in a completely different range and scale in terms of fundraising.”

Newsom will face Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn in the race for the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, State Senator Abel Maldonado, the recently appointed lieutenant governor, is expected to square off against whomever the Democrats put up against him.