Former President Bill Clinton interviewed California Governor Gavin Newsom at his Clinton Global Initiative event in September in New York and saw someone who has what it takes to be elected president. The 79-year-old ex-president, according to Politico, was impressed by Newsom’s talent, as the 58-year-old California governor has already expressed interest in launching a 2028 bid. Another major California political player, Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco – a job Newsom also held – and ex-California state assembly speaker, told Politico’s Jonathan Martin that Newsom was ‘big time.’
‘He’s the movie star,’ Brown commented. Martin’s piece explores what’s in plain sight – that Newsom is currently the frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic nomination. Part of that is thanks to the failure of another Californian, 2024 Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris . Martin recalled how he was with Newsom in California for the 2022 midterms, races that didn’t result in a red Republican wave as some had predicted, which emboldened Democratic President Joe Biden’s quest for reelection.
The Politico magazine writer overheard Newsom on the phone with Biden that night, with Newsom telling Biden that he supported his bid, despite polling showing that Americans were seriously concerned about Biden’s age. Biden didn’t pull out of the race until July 2024, after his disastrous general election debate, quickly endorsing Harris to take his place . ‘Instead of staring down the prospect of Biden’s re-election and likely Kamala Harris nomination four years later – which would have pushed Newsom’s White House ambitions back to at least 2032 – the governor watched as the two leading Democrats collapsed months apart last year,’ Martin wrote.
Since then, Newsom has made some strategic moves to get on America’s radar. He’s penning a new memoir that will be released in February, generally a rite of passage for any presidential candidate. The California governor became a key figure in the anti-Trump resistance, after the president activated the National Guard and sent in the Marines to quell protests against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s mass deportation policies . The very online governor started using social media platforms to mock the president’s online behavior, complete with AI-generated content and capital letters.
Two weeks ago, on election night, Newsom’s gamble to ask California voters to choose to redistrict the state in favor of Democrats – to cancel out a similar move made by Republicans in Texas – also paid off. The ballot initiative was affirmed by voters overwhelmingly, with the race called as the polls closed. Talking to Politico, Newsom said ‘the way back for the Democratic Party is about how we work around what appears for some to be this immovable object, Trump and Trumpism.’
Democrats have politically split on what will appeal more to the American electorate -a candidate who hugs closer to the political middle or a progressive in the fashion of Senator Bernie Sanders or Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. ‘I want it to be the Manchin to Mamdani party. I want it to be inclusive,’ Newsom said was his take, referencing former Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Where Newsom stands on that Democratic divide, he’s been cagey about. When Martin asked if Newsom identified as a progressive, he replied, ‘I’m a hard-headed pragmatist.’ ‘Once a mayor, always a mayor – get things done,’ Newsom replied when Martin asked again.
‘I don’t want to be labeled,’ the California governor also offered, saying he finds it ‘reductive.’ Brown, who hired a 28-year-old Newsom to serve on San Francisco’s Parking and Traffic Commission, said he didn’t know what the current governor actually believes. ‘I never asked him,’ Brown told Politico. ‘For fear he doesn’t know!’
