SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his wife, Court TV legal analyst Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, are filing for divorce after three years of marriage.

In a joint statement issued by the mayor’s office Jan. 5, the Newsoms cited the strain posed by their high-profile careers on opposite ends of the country as the reason for the split.

“It is with great sadness that we announce today that we have decided to end our marriage. Unfortunately, the demands of our respective careers have made it too difficult for us to continue as a married couple,” they wrote. “Over the past 10 years we have developed a tremendous bond of love and respect for each other. That will never change. We will remain close friends.”

The couple went public with their news after sharing it with their families and friends, according to Peter Ragone, the mayor’s spokesperson. Ragone said neither was available to comment beyond their six-line statement, in which they appealed for “understanding and consideration during this difficult time.”

Rumors have circulated in San Francisco that the pair’s marriage was in trouble almost since Newsom became mayor last January. Newsom, a Democrat, made headlines last year by granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Just after he took office, his wife, a former model and San Francisco assistant district attorney, moved to New York City to pursue her television career while continuing to attend high-profile events in San Francisco as first lady.

But both Newsom, 37, and Guilfoyle Newsom, 35, have repeatedly insisted publicly that they were each other’s biggest boosters, soul mates who shared similar passions for public service and hard work. The mayor often invoked the joy of his own marriage, in fact, as evidence of why it was unfair to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.