MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is betting a wave of anti-Trump backlash will carry him through the early voting states of 2028, framing his time as governor as a model for Democrats looking to counter the president.
Newsom dropped near-constant reminders this weekend of how often he’s clashed with President Donald Trump as he hopped across New Hampshire, a state that rejected Trump three times, pitching California as ground zero for his second-term fights and encouraging Democrats to be more “ruthless” as he brought up its decision to join the redistricting wars.
“The Right is ruthless. Trump is ruthless,” Newsom said at a field office in Nashua on Saturday. “I’m sorry. We need to be a little more ruthless.”
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The stated purpose of Newsom’s visit was to campaign for a slate of Democrats who are running in high-profile races for House and Senate this fall and help his party drive turnout.
But it doubled as a way to test the waters for a presidential run that, to be successful, will require support in New Hampshire, a state that has for decades helped make or break the dreams of ambitious politicians like Newsom.
Being the governor of a liberal bastion like California has its downsides. GOP voters have a decidedly negative opinion of Newsom, thanks, in part, to years of cable TV punditry portraying him as a coastal elite, and at least some Democrats believe their party should look elsewhere if they hope to win in purple states.
“I mean, I love him. I think he’s wonderful,” said Denise Rudman, a retired high school teacher in Manchester. “There’s just something about, you know, ‘liberals from California,’ and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way.”
Yet in the Trump era, Newsom is betting that “California” is anything but a dirty word and could actually differentiate him in a crowded primary field. At a town hall in Exeter, he quipped that he had just left the “most un-Trump state in the United States of America” as he opened his remarks.
“I say that with deep pride and privilege,” Newsom said.
Newsom’s notoriety as the governor of the biggest state in the country partially explains why he’s consistently ranked as one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination in 2028. Polls show Newsom behind only former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 nominee.
He’s also a frequent target of the president, who has dubbed him “Newscum” and last year called for his arrest.
Newsom has played nice with Trump when California has needed federal relief, most recently with the Palisades wildfire, and insists that he’s “always had an open hand, not a closed fist.”
But Newsom clearly relishes the confrontation and has returned the jabs with over-the-top mimicry on social media.
“We’re going to stand up and punch a bully in the mouth,” Newsom told reporters in Manchester. “This guy is — he’s the wrecking ball. What he’s doing in this country is jaw-dropping. There needs to be accountability, and we need to be tougher.”
That feuding took on a new dimension this year when Newsom revealed that the Justice Department was investigating his wife over tax-related conduct, a step that he said amounted to political intimidation.
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Newsom’s celebrity was apparent as he weaved his way through New Hampshire, now the third state on the Democratic presidential nominating calendar, shaking hands and posing for pictures with voters who stood in line for upward of 10 or 15 minutes.
At each event, his stump speech mentioned that Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles first and continues to pick fights in court, most recently over California’s voter rolls.
“There will not be a fair and free election in the United States of America if we don’t take back the House of Representatives this year,” Newsom said. “We got to knock on those doors, we got to make those phone calls, we got to send those text messages out.”
Nancie Chandler, a finance manager from Derry, New Hampshire, said she thought that Newsom was knowledgeable and articulate about the stakes of the election and considered him a strong contender for president.
“He’s aware of what we’re going through, not only in New Hampshire or California, but really the whole of the country,” Chandler said.
Still, Newsom won’t have the anti-Trump lane to himself should he run next year, and he’s relatively untested outside of his home state. Rudman, the retired high school teacher, said she preferred Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who placed second in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary in 2020.
“He is thoughtful. He is eloquent,” Rudman said. “He’s brilliant, and he speaks for a lot of people.”
Other Democrats will gravitate to candidates who lack Newsom’s pragmatic streak and represent the party’s progressive wing. Despite its reputation for being a libertarian-leaning state, New Hampshire’s Democratic base has embraced left-wing politics, as evidenced by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) two primary wins in 2016 and 2020.
Arya Shams, a candidate for state representative in Nashua, said he would like to see someone such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) or Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) run for president. Khanna, a Silicon Valley congressman, is running to the left of Newsom on a wealth tax that will appear on the California ballot in November.
“It’s nothing personal against Gavin Newsom, but Gavin Newsom is against some very important policies in his home state,” Shams said.
Newsom, asked what a post-Trump message might sound like after the midterm elections, leaned into economic populism, speaking of the need to “democratize our economy” and address the concentration of wealth and power.
As he finishes out his final year as governor, Newsom is also quick to put his record front and center and rattled off almost a dozen policies, from paid family leave to a higher minimum wage, with the speed of a fast-talking auctioneer.
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“I’m practicing what I preach every day,” Newsom told the Washington Examiner. “I’ll go down the damn list.”
“We have painted our vision because I’m doing it every damn day, and I think that’s what we’ll all start to share,” he added.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
