Explainer - But enough about Virginia, let's get back to California, where, the LA Times explains, there's a reason that no other California mayor has followed in the footsteps of Mayor Gavin Newsom. The answer is that in California counties are the governmental agency responsible for issuing marriage licenses and San Francisco happens to be the only contiguous city-county in the state. In related news, Conan will interview the mayor of New Platz, NY tomorrow.