California Made Gavin Newsom Famous. But Could It Also Be A Liability in 2028? (4 of 4)

What is Newsom’s response? California’s record should be judged on what it has actually accomplished. Under Newsom, California has expanded health coverage, including for immigrants regardless of status, increased paid sick leave, provided universal free school meals, raised the minimum wage for fast-food workers and adopted aggressive climate and gun-control measures. The state has also enacted protections for abortion seekers and maintained a moratorium on executions.

This presents an interesting dilemma for a potential 2028 campaign. Pretty much all of these policies make California a boogieman in the eyes of Republicans, and yet they are precisely the policies that could appeal to Democratic primary voters.

California’s size also gives Newsom an unusually substantial record to point to. It is the nation’s most populous state and, if it were a separate country, the world’s 4th largest economy. Newsom, therefore, can make a strong case that his record isn’t merely theoretical: He has governed a jurisdiction that is literally larger than entire countries. Naturally, critics will counter that California has high taxes, housing costs, and businesses and residents leaving the state. California’s population fell during the pandemic era but has since bounced back.

That leaves Newsom with an unusual political challenge. He needs to convince Democratics, Independents, and even moderate Republican voters that the California model is worth taking nationwide without allowing political opponents to define California as shorthand for everything they believe is wrong with liberal America. At the same time, he has to do it while maintaining the celebrity-like political profile that has helped make him nationally recognizable in the first place.

That profile was plain to see in South Carolina. Newsom, 58, appeared at events in his familiar rolled-up white shirt and no tie, projecting an image that could easily fit a television studio as well as a presidential campaign stop. Some voters were intrigued by the celebrity factor. Others remained skeptical, conceding that while he’s polished and charismatic, they wondered how much substance voters outside California would ultimately see beneath the presentation. Ultimately, time will tell, but with the presidential election season kicking into high gear next year, we’ll receive an answer sooner rather than later.