Throughout this election cycle, California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled the country campaigning for the Democratic presidential ticket, stopping in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Nevada.
He ran his own campaign to raise money for Democrats in red states, became the party's champion on a series of television shows and served as a proxy for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
After filling America, the Democratic governor is spending the last days of the 2024 election in an area where he did not campaign much this year: his home state.
“You can do anything. You can't do everything,” Newsom said of his effort to balance his campaign commitments across the country and in California during the interview. “I mean, if there was an eighth day I would use it.”
Newsom's appearance this weekend in Orange County highlighted the paradox of his strategy: As the governor canvasses supporters in Boise, Idaho, and defends Biden in Atlanta, Democrats in California are fighting an uphill battle in key congressional races largely without the state's most powerful politician. on their side.
California has several House races that will help decide which party controls Congress next year. The closest contests are in the state's precincts where polls show Newsom is unpopular with voters. The governor's decision to spend more time campaigning outside of California than in its most competitive states could certainly help his Golden State colleagues — and his political career.
“He's not only working on Vice President Harris' presidential campaign, but there's no doubt he's working on his potential presidential campaign, and he doesn't need to do that in California,” said Matt Rexroad, a Republican strategist. “You know all those people.”
With two years left before term limits forced Newsom out of the governor's office, a nationwide tour of Biden and Harris allowed him to portray himself as a seasoned politician and major fundraiser while building a list of supporters outside of California. A trip to the GOP field called the governor a gunman who can take shots at the Republican Party and former President Trump.
Although Newsom endorsed a handful of Democrats running for Congress and declined to take official action on seven of 10 statewide ballot measures, the governor said he has served as California's top Democrat.
He has raised nearly $2 million for eight Democratic candidates in California's congressional races, aides said, and has made appearances in many states during the long campaign season.
“We've been doing a lot of fundraising for the congressman for almost two years,” Newsom said.
On Sunday, Newsom joined a lineup that included Senate candidate Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks, state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and several others vote for Democrat Derek Tran at the United Food and Commercial Workers union hall in Buena Park.
He told the crowd he was there for two main reasons: to thank the volunteers who campaigned and made calls to Democrats and to support Tran in his bid to oust Rep. Republican Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) – the race is considered one of the biggest. important congress races in the country.
“He is so important to the destiny and the future, not only of this district, but in many ways, the destiny and the future of this country,” Newsom said to the staff in the room.
Although Newsom was not physically present in Orange County and Palm Springs for most of the election, he became an important figure in some of the races.
Republican incumbents have tied their Democratic rivals to Newsom in an attempt to scare moderate voters and strengthen their base.
In a campaign ad for GOP Rep. Ken Calvert in Congressional District 41, the governor's face is changing to Calvert's Democratic opponent, Will Rollins.
“He's smart, he loves taxes, and he's more liberal than Gavin Newsom,” says the narrator as Newsom's image merges with Rollins'.
The ad says Rollins, “like Newsom,” will raise gas, property and income taxes for residents of Riverside County, which stretches from Corona to the Coachella Valley and includes Palm Springs.
“We can't stop Newsom, but we can stop Will Rollins,” the ad said.
Newsom dismissed the ad as “politics,” but Rexroad said the governor's approval ratings in swing states in California make him an easy foil for the GOP.
A statewide poll 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 nearly 6 in 10 voters disapproved.
Those are districts where Democrats are working to flip a handful of GOP-held House seats.
“Because [Republican Rep.] David Valadao, would like nothing more [Democrat] “Rudy Salas and Gavin Newsom were on the front page of the Bakersfield Californian and every other news story throughout the election,” Rexroad said. “The governor is very unpopular in the Central Valley.”
Newsom did not appear in the Kern County precinct over the weekend when Salas sought to unseat Valadao (R-Hanford).
The governor pushed back on the idea that Democrats were worried about appearing with him.
“People want all the support they can get and have for this campaign,” he said.
In Orange County, Republicans held back when Newsom appeared days before Tran appeared.
In a press conference, Steele, who is opposed to Tran, called Newsom's role as his campaign “close.”
“Bringing Newsom to town tells voters everything they need to know about where Derek Tran's loyalties lie: With the party in Sacramento that wants to raise taxes, bail out policies in Washington,” Steele said in a statement.
Despite these figures, former US Senator Barbara Boxer said Democratic campaigns are using the governor because they believe he can help. Newsom, he said, is good at “sending messages that get across.”
“They are in the closing days, and they know who they want,” Boxer said of the campaigns. “But I think he's useful everywhere because I think he's a great campaigner. He is a very smart campaigner. He knows the stories that move people. I wouldn't go by the approval ratings – nobody's off the charts.”
The last few days of the election are mostly about increasing voter turnout and very little about changing minds, or flipping ballots, when many voters have already made up their minds and voted.
PPIC researcher Mark Baldassare said it makes sense for congressional campaigns to use Newsom in the waning days of the election to propel Democrats into the polls.
“I don't really see a lot of risk,” Baldassare said. “I see the effect of having a well-known Democrat in California, other than Kamala Harris, who is there as a catalyst for Democrats in addition to encouraging Republicans to go the other way.”
Newsom's late appearance in congressional districts gives him an opportunity to later claim a stake, however small, if Democrats win the House. It also limits the potential damage and time GOP campaigns have to use his visit to their advantage.
Despite critics of Newsom's election priorities and possible motivations, it's smart for politicians to campaign in a way that will improve others as well as themselves, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego.
“Politicians do things for their own benefit,” said Kousser. “But successful politicians do things that benefit themselves and their allies, and smart politicians do those things openly.”
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