Mayor Gavin Newsom picked up almost $45,000 in large contributions for his exploratory committee for California governor.

Much of the money came from individual donors from Emerald Fund Inc., JH Partners, Stanford Group Co. and SPO Partners. Two contributions of $10,000 each came from Pop Chips Inc. and San Francisco Autocenter Inc. Another $10,000 contribution from Gap Inc. Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Dan Henkle came in earlier this month.

Newsom, along with staffers from his exploratory committee, kicked off a university tour Thursday at San Francisco State University.