SAN DIEGO — California‘s controversial redistricting ballot measure has done wonders to boost Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) early bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
The outspoken governor, who marked a massive political victory Tuesday night with the passage of Proposition 50, had alienated and infuriated many in the Democratic Party after he appeared on podcasts with Steve Bannon and the late Charlie Kirk earlier this year.
Newsom managed to regain much of the popularity he lost and boost himself onto the national stage after publicly taking on President Donald Trump. Over the past 2 1/2 months, Newsom has become the public face of Proposition 50. He has gone on television shows, podcasts, and radio programs framing the Proposition 50 fight as one for the very soul of America.
Last week, he acknowledged publicly that he was weighing a 2028 presidential run and, on Tuesday, was able to deliver on a redistricting measure that was not very popular with his own party at the start but one that he was able to get across the finish line in record time, under intense pressure, and with the nation’s eyes fixed on him.
The race for Proposition 50 was called by the Associated Press one minute after polls closed.
“He’s got the momentum and the party behind him,” San Diego-based strategist Shirley Hough told the Washington Examiner, adding that Newsom’s win catapulted him to the top of the 2028 Democratic presidential short list.
Newsom, who will be termed out of office next year, said he is proud that the state and the nation came together “to send a powerful message to an historic president.”
“And Donald Trump is an historic president,” Newsom said. “He is the most historically unpopular president in modern history. In every critical category, Donald Trump is underwater. He promised to make us healthier. He promised to make us wealthier. We’re sicker and poor, and he fundamentally understands that.”
Newsom, a multimillionaire himself, added that the one thing Trump did not count on was California and just how polarizing Trump could be.
NEWSOM AND HARRIS RALLY PROPOSITION 50 SUPPORTERS AHEAD OF SPECIAL ELECTION
“Instead of agonizing over the state of our nation, we organized in an unprecedented way, in a 90-day sprint, people from all over the United States of America contributed their voices and their support for this initiative,” Newsom said, “We stood tall and we stood firm in response to Donald Trump’s recklessness, and tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result.”
Everything Newsom has said since taking on the redistricting battle has started to sound presidential, San Diego voter Maria Garcia told the Washington Examiner. “He’s my governor today, but he could be all of our president in three years. I would vote for him for president.”
That is exactly what Newsom is aiming for, University of California-Riverside political science professor Shaun Bowler told the Washington Examiner. “One of the things that’s going on here is Newsom is riding this to the nomination,” Bowler added. “He’s trying to get Democrats behind him. So, some of the message here is that Newsom is the guy who’s going to fight Donald Trump, and no one else will. So, while there’s a lot of dislike for Donald Trump, there’s also, among Democrats, real frustration and disappointment with both [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer (D-NY) and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries (D-NY), who are seen as milquetoast and lackluster, unwilling to fight. And so Newsom is trying to right that.”
Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff told the Washington Examiner that the Proposition 50 win will “absolutely” continue Newsom’s momentum heading into 2028.
“It’s an early sign that he isn’t just fighting against Trump with memes and bravado — but with tangible, deeply important policy and legislative wins,” he added. “It adds substance to his posture against Trump that some have found lacking.”
CALIFORNIA’S PROPOSITION 50 PASSES, DELIVERING MAJOR POLITICAL WIN FOR NEWSOM
Newsom and a parade of national Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pitched the redistricting measure as necessary to counteract Trump. Newsom has also shown up prominently in Democratic Party ads and seems to be, for now, at the top of the ticket.
“Gavin Newsom played the YES on 50 campaign extremely well,” Los Angeles-based political consultant Matthew Klink told the Washington Examiner. “He heavily played off of California voter dislike for Donald Trump and made it a ‘Vote YES and against Trump’ effort. Equally important, Newsom mobilized all the big Democrat heavy hitters for the YES campaign – AOC, Barack Obama and Jasmine Crockett – and then put himself in those ads. It will help him boost his national stature.”
