Throughout this election cycle, California Governor Gavin Newsom has traveled the country campaigning for the Democratic presidential race, making stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, South Carolina , in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Nevada.
He ran his own campaign to raise money for Democrats in red states, became the party fighter on conservative TV shows and served as a proxy for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
After crisscrossing America, the Democratic governor is spending the final days of the 2024 election in a place where he has not campaigned much this year: his home state.
“You can do anything. You can’t do everything,” Newsom said of his efforts to balance his campaign responsibilities nationally and in California in an interview. “I mean, if there was an eighth day, I would use it.”
Newsom’s appearances this weekend in Orange County highlighted the irony of his strategy: While the governor courted donors in Boise, Idaho, and defended Biden in Atlanta, Democrats in California put up a tough fight in key congressional elections, largely without the state’s most powerful politician. their side.
California has several House races that will help determine which party controls Congress next year. The tightest contests are in areas of the state where polls show Newsom most unpopular with voters. The governor’s decision to spend more time campaigning outside California than in his most competitive districts could actually help his Golden State allies — and his own political career.
“He’s not only working on Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, but there’s no doubt he’s also working on his own potential presidential campaign, and he doesn’t need to do that in California,” said Matt Rexroad, a Republican strategist. “He knows all these people.”
With two years until term limits, Newsom must leave the governor’s office. Traveling the country for Biden and Harris allowed him to present himself as a seasoned politician and prolific fundraiser while building his list of supporters outside of California. Pilgrimages to GOP territory have cast the governor as a pugilist capable of taking shots at the Republican Party and former President Trump.
Although Newsom has supported only a handful of Democrats running for Congress and declined to take an official position on seven of the 10 proposed measures on the statewide ballot, the governor has said he is became California’s highest-ranking Democrat.
He raised nearly $2 million for eight Democratic candidates in California’s congressional elections, aides said, and made appearances in several districts throughout the long election season.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fundraising for members of Congress for almost two years,” Newsom said.
On Sunday, Newsom joined a list that included Senate candidate Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks, State’s Attorney. Gen. Rob Bonta and several others rally for Democrat Derek Tran at a United Food and Commercial Workers union hall in Buena Park.
He told the crowd he was there for two main reasons: to thank volunteers who were canvassing and calling for Democrats and to support Tran in his effort to oust Republican Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach ) – a competition considered one of the most popular. important congressional races in the country.
“That speaks to how important you are to the fate and the future, not just of this district, but in many ways, to the fate and the future of this country,” Newsom told campaign workers present in the room.
Although Newsom was not physically present in Orange County and Palm Springs for most of the election, he became a central figure in some races.
Incumbent Republicans have linked their Democratic challengers to Newsom in an effort to scare moderate voters and fuel their base.
In a campaign ad for Republican Rep. Ken Calvert in Congressional District 41, the governor’s face morphs into that of Calvert’s Democratic opponent, Will Rollins.
“He’s slick, loves taxes, and is more liberal than Gavin Newsom,” the narrator says as Newsom’s image blends with Rollins’.
The ad claims Rollins, “just like Newsom,” will raise gas prices, property taxes and income taxes for residents of the Riverside County district that stretches from Corona to the Coachella Valley and includes Palm Springs.
“We can’t stop Newsom, but we can stop the radical Will Rollins,” the ad says.
Newsom called the ad “political,” but Rexroad said the governor’s approval ratings in California’s swing districts make him an easy foil for the GOP.
A statewide poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, in October found that a majority of voters disapprove of Newsom’s performance as governor. His ratings were worst in the Central Valley, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire, where about 6 in 10 voters disapprove.
These are the areas where Democrats are working to flip several GOP-held House seats.
“For [Republican Rep.] David Valadao, he would like nothing more than [Democrat] Rudy Salas and Gavin Newsom will headline the Bakersfield Californian and all other news for the remainder of the election,” Rexroad said. “The governor is extremely unpopular in the Central Valley.”
Newsom did not show up this weekend in the Kern County district where Salas is seeking to oust Valadao (R-Hanford).
The governor pushed back on the idea that Democrats were afraid to appear with him.
“People are looking for all the support they can get consistently and throughout this campaign,” he said.
In Orange County, Republicans seized on Newsom’s appearance days before he even appeared with Tran.
In a press release, Steel, Tran’s opponent, called Newsom’s role the “closest” to his campaign.
“Bringing Newsom to town tells voters everything they need to know about Derek Tran’s loyalties: with the Sacramento team wanting to bring his tax-raising, bail-free policies to Washington,” Steel said in a press release.
Despite the numbers, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said Democratic campaigns use the governor because they believe he can help. Newsom, she said, is good at “delivering messages that get across.”
“They’re in their final days and they know who they want,” Boxer said of the campaigns. “But I really think he’s an asset everywhere because I think he’s a great campaigner.” He is a very intelligent activist. He knows the issues that move people. I wouldn’t rely on approval ratings – no one is out of the ordinary.
The final days of an election are largely about increasing turnout and less about changing minds or reversing votes, when many voters have already chosen their candidate and cast their ballots. vote.
PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare said it made sense for congressional campaigns to use Newsom in the final days of the election to push Democrats to the polls.
“I don’t really see any downside risk,” Baldassare said. “I see the benefit of having the most well-known Democrat in California, other than Kamala Harris, as a possible motivator for Democrats more than a motivator for Republicans to go the other way.”
Newsom’s late appearances in congressional districts give him the opportunity to say later that he played a role, however minor, if Democrats won the House. It also limits the potential damage and time GOP campaigns have to use his visits to their advantage.
Despite criticism of Newsom’s campaign priorities and potential motivations, it’s smart for politicians to campaign in a way that energizes others and themselves, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego .
“Politicians do things in their own interest,” Kousser said. “But successful politicians do things that help them and their allies, and the wisest politicians do those things in very visible ways.”
