In abstract
Newsom received concerned in nationwide politics through the presidential election and has selections to make with a second Trump administration imminent.
As President Joe Biden’s re-election marketing campaign imploded this summer season, Gov. Gavin Newsom was on the middle of the furor.
He turned arguably the most distinguished and forceful surrogate for Biden by means of the chaos that adopted the president’s debate debacle in June, championing Biden in interviews and on the marketing campaign path as fellow Democrats more and more questioned whether or not the president was nonetheless as much as the job.
Newsom’s position as head cheerleader raised his personal political capital within the course of, thrusting him into the prime tier of prospects bandied about as a potential alternative nominee, despite the fact that Newsom publicly denies any presidential aspirations.
That chance finally went to Vice President Kamala Harris, after Biden lastly dropped out of the race in late July and endorsed her. However her November loss to President-elect Donald Trump has surfaced questions anew about what would possibly await Newsom when he phrases out of the California governorship in two years — simply in time to probably run for the White Home in 2028.
He received’t be ceding the nationwide highlight that he grabbed this summer season any time quickly. Simply days after Trump’s victory, Newsom was already positioning California because the chief of the resistance to a second Trump administration, calling a particular legislative session to search funding for anticipated litigation in opposition to the federal authorities.
May returning to the position of resister-in-chief increase Newsom’s attraction to the loyal Democrats, even past California’s borders, who will determine the subsequent presidential main? Or would one other California liberal simply be seen as too dangerous?
Within the meantime, Newsom nonetheless has a state to handle.
It was a tricky yr for the governor, who needed to negotiate a state price range closing an estimated deficit of tens of billions of {dollars}. His political capital took a bruising when California voters barely adopted his plan to overtake how the state cares for folks with critical psychological sickness, a significant coverage precedence, after which once more when he unsuccessfully maneuvered to take away a tough-on-crime measure from the November poll, which in the end handed overwhelmingly.
Newsom received a lift by leaning into his ongoing feud with the oil trade over gasoline costs. Regardless of going through some resistance from lawmakers and skepticism over the effectiveness of his proposal, Newsom pushed a invoice by means of the Legislature this fall to clean out seasonal value spikes by growing state oversight of refinery upkeep. He celebrated with a uncommon public signing ceremony within the rotunda of the state Capitol.
2025 outlook
These headwinds aren’t going away subsequent yr. State fiscal officers mission California is coming into a interval of rising price range deficitsimperiling Newsom’s ambitions for large, costly new applications to reboot the state’s sluggish economic system and combat again in opposition to a second Trump administration. After a disappointing election for Democrats wherein voters broadly swung to the precise, California’s legislative leaders are additionally urging a renewed focus on reducing the price of residing within the state. If he finds there’s a diminished urge for food for anti-Trump resistance the second time round, Newsom might want to determine whether or not he retains enjoying to a nationwide viewers or turns his consideration extra absolutely to the issues of California.
