Gov. Gavin Newsom has been making headlines recently as he is seemingly in the early stages of a 2028 bid for president of the United States. As a California politician for over 30 years, he began his career with San Francisco’s Parking and Traffic Commission before then running, and winning, the race for mayor of San Francisco, a position he held for seven years before becoming governor of California in 2019. Now in his last term as California governor, speculation has risen around Newsom as a promising candidate for the 2028 presidency, now holding the first-place spot among Democrats in presidential candidate polling. The Democratic Party has undeniably been embattled over the last couple of months in lieu of their 2024 election defeat, which, with President Donald Trump at the helm, has brought about an increasingly centralized and autocratic Republican Party. Yet, Newsom has stood defiant on many contested issues, including standing up to Trump and his administration on multiple fronts. This aggressive stance is likely a strategy to unite the Democratic Party against a common enemy in a demonstrative fashion for reference in a potential presidential campaign.
One major stance Newsom has taken against Trump is on the issue of the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles in June of this year. Newsom sued the Trump administration for its deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles without his consent and for its violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of the military in domestic law enforcement. By prevailing in the lawsuit, Newsom demonstrated his ability to successfully challenge the Trump administration in court while reinforcing his position on the defense of immigration. This is just one example of many times he has consistently asserted his firm stance against the Trump administration through a series of legal battles. These lawsuits seek to block the Trump administration’s recent actions, including efforts to weaken California’s environmental protections and healthcare services. In particular, they challenge policies that restrict transgender healthcare and allow immigration authorities to access Medicaid patients’ personal information. In June of this year, Newsom pursued legal action against the Trump administration after they approved resolutions to revoke California’s Clean Air Act Waiver, which allows the state to set relatively more strict clean air and truck standards when considering other states in the union. California’s audacious involvement on these issues have propelled a new narrative on behalf of Newsom: that he is able to stand up to a right-wing power such as Trump and symbolizes an ironclad fist clenching in the face of an encroaching federal government.
In addition to lawsuits, Newsom recently set forth an aggressive plan to re-draw congressional district lines, countering Texas Republicans’ newly re-drawn map, which adds more GOP seats to Congress. Newsom aims to take the same action in California, effectively countering the added Republican seats in Texas with the addition of Democratic seats in California. The California Assembly passed Newsom’s Proposal 57-20 in a special election for the ballot measure and it is up to the California constituency to vote on the measure in November 2025. The ballot measure furthers the narrative that Newsom refuses to back down to Republicans, a message which has become a theme in the early stages of Newsom’s political campaign.
In the midst of an overtaking right-wing party gunning for another presidency, Newsom’s campaigning strategies have taken on new methods to earn votes. Newsom has been widely successful in communication via social media, beating Trump at his own game. While many potential Democratic candidates, such as former secretary of transportation Pete Butegedge and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have taken an approach similar to Democratic candidates of the past – more serious, fact- and cause-driven campaigns with little “fluff” or provocative messaging – Newsom has taken on a completely different approach. Like Trump, Newsom’s posts on X have contained outlandish and eye-catching language and diction, utilizing all-caps writing, unflattering nicknames for opponents, and augmented images. On TikTok, his account has been posting a multitude of unflattering memes of the current president and vice president, depicting them as ugly, clumsy, and unqualified in a largely humorous manner – all whileNewsom’s own account has been posting edits of himself, emphasizing his appearance and powerful moments, especially against Trump.
The attention-grabbing strategy Newsom’s social media team has begun running with has been debated on its effectiveness and credibility. However, many find that this extravagant and even “Trumpish” method of communication may be the only effective strategy in reaching and engaging a large audience in light of Trump’s disruptive and provocative approach. In order for voters to follow you, they must first listen to you. In the increasing noisyness of social media and digital news, Newsom has managed to break through and be a primary voice among his peers and potential competitors, even if much of his content is superficial rather than substantial.
Beyond posts on popular social media platforms, Newsom hosts his own podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” as of March 2025. Unlike TikTok and X, podcasts reach a wider age range of users than just Gen-Z. “This is Gavin Newsom” also captivates a largely Republican audience due to the guests he invites on the show. Newsom’s podcast first went viral when he hosted the late right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, a leading voice for young Republicans across the country. Kirk’s appearance brought viewers from the opposite political party that likely would never have tuned in and gave Newsom the chance to address contested issues on his own terms.
Governor Newsom’s approval ratings have fluctuated throughout his time in office, but have risen in recent months. Emerging from the COVID-19 lockdown, Newsom’s approval dropped due to general frustration regarding his pandemic response. This frustration led to a recall effort against him in 2021, which was defeated by a 62% majority. Since then, his ratings have been on a somewhat steady incline, and have increased in recent months in light of his president-setting actions against the Trump administration and his rise in social media communication.
According to a Leger Survey for the Los Angeles Times, over a third of the United States believes that California is a model other states should avoid, while only 15% believe it is a model that should be copied (nearly 50% are neutral). The most concerning issues regarding California among U.S. citizens include cost of living, seemingly-endemic homelessness, political ideology, an unstable energy grid, and frequent natural disasters. In general, Democrats are far more likely to have a positive opinion on California than Republicans.
Given the plurality of opinions on California, the question is: how could California’s reputation affect Newsom’s political campaign? Both recent polling and proactive action about the big issues facing California by Newsom point to the conclusion that California’s largely negative reputation among U.S. Republicans will not play a significant role in determining the outcome of Newsom’s campaign. Newsom has armed himself with evidence of proactivity and progress on key issues which would likely be used as a weak point against him by political opponents. Newsom has risen in leadership during recent trying times such as the Los Angeles fires and on the issue of homelessness.
When Trump threatened to withhold funds after the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Newsom met him face-to-face to renegotiate for rebuilding efforts. Newsom also launched a campaign called “State Action for Facilitation on Encampments Task Force” in August 2025 to eradicate homeless encampments in California, one of the leading issues in the state. The State Action for Facilitation on Encampments Task Force utilizes six state agencies, each playing a role in the procedure and removing homeless encampments, providing medical care, housing, and maintenance of public space. The campaign is an explicit and, so far, very effective action toward solving the issue of homelessness in California. However, the underlying issue behind California’s homelessness problem is the issue of affordability.
California is one of the most expensive states overall. The reasons behind California’s unaffordability are many, yet it largely is due to the demand to live in California, raising the costs of utilities, housing, transportation, etc. It is projected that the 2028 presidential election will be largely focused on the issue of affordability in light of the rapidly rising cost of living as well as tariffs and cuts to public services. The issues Newsom supports, such as climate accountability, progressive income tax, and immigration may be double-edged in their contributions to his campaign. While these issues are favorable in some regards, especially among Democrats, they contribute to California’s unaffordability and can discredit Newsom’s ability to create an affordable United States. Newsom’s efforts in the courtroom have established him as a strong force against the Trump administration, a difficult image to achieve given the administration’s bulldozing efforts in the first months of Trump’s presidency. Those who may not agree with Newsom’s politics likely prefer him over his Democratic competition due to his communication reach across the political spectrum and relatively moderate politics. More indicative of the Newsom campaign’s success than his home state’s approval rating is the country’s approval rating of him. According to Newsweek and Newsom’s social media, Newsom has recently surpassed Trump’s favorability ratings by five percentage points. Given the early stages of Newsom’s not-yet-confirmed 2028 presidential campaign, these poll findings are extremely optimistic for his candidacy.
Featured Image Source: Newsweek.com
