All through this election cycle, California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled the nation campaigning for the Democratic presidential ticket, making stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Nevada.
He ran his personal marketing campaign to lift cash for Democrats in crimson states, grew to become the social gathering’s fighter on conservative tv reveals and acted as a proxy for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
After crisscrossing America, the Democratic governor is spending the ultimate days of the 2024 election in a spot the place he hasn’t campaigned very a lot this yr: his residence state.
“You can do anything. You can’t do everything,” Newsom mentioned about his effort to stability his duties to marketing campaign nationally and in California throughout an interview. “I mean, if there was an eighth day I’d use it.”
Newsom’s appearances this weekend in Orange County highlighted an irony of his technique: Because the governor wooed donors in Boise, Idaho, and defended Biden in Atlanta, Democrats in California have waged a fierce combat in key congressional races largely with out the state’s strongest politician by their facet.
California has a number of battleground Home races that can assist decide which social gathering controls Congress subsequent yr. The closest contests are in areas of the state the place polls present Newsom is most unpopular with voters. The governor’s determination to spend extra time campaigning outdoors California than in its best districts may very well assist his Golden State allies — and his personal political profession.
“He’s not only working on the presidential campaign for Vice President Harris, but there’s no doubt that he’s also working on his own potential presidential campaign, and he doesn’t need to do that in California,” mentioned Matt Rexroad, a Republican strategist. “He knows all those people.”
With two years left earlier than time period limits power Newsom out of the governor’s workplace, touring the nation for Biden and Harris allowed him to showcase himself as a seasoned politician and a prolific fundraiser whereas increase his checklist of supporters outdoors California. The pilgrimages into GOP territory branded the governor as a pugilist able to touchdown pictures on the Republican Social gathering and former President Trump.
Although Newsom endorsed only a handful of Democrats operating for Congress and declined to take an official stance on seven of the ten measures on the statewide poll, the governor mentioned he’s put in work as California’s prime Democrat.
He raised almost $2 million for eight Democratic candidates in California congressional contests, his aides mentioned, and has made appearances in a number of districts all through the lengthy marketing campaign season.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fundraising for the congressional folks for almost two years,” Newsom mentioned.
On Sunday, Newsom joined a lineup that included Senate candidate Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), California Democratic Social gathering Chairman Rusty Hicks, state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and a number of other others rallying for Democrat Derek Tran at a United Meals and Industrial Staff union corridor in Buena Park.
He advised the gang he was there for 2 predominant causes: to thank the volunteers canvassing and making requires Democrats and to assist Tran in his effort to oust Republican Rep. Michelle Metal (R-Seal Seaside) — a contest thought of one of the essential congressional races within the nation.
“That’s how important you are to the fate and future, not just of this district, but in many respects, the fate and future of this country,” Newsom mentioned to marketing campaign employees within the room.
Although Newsom wasn’t bodily current in Orange County and Palm Springs for many of the election, he grew to become a central determine in a number of the races.
Republican incumbents have been tying their Democratic challengers to Newsom in an effort to scare off average voters and stoke their base.
In an advert by GOP Rep. Ken Calvert’s marketing campaign in Congressional District 41, the governor’s face transforms into that of Calvert’s Democratic opponent, Will Rollins.
“He’s slick, loves taxes, and more liberal than Gavin Newsom,” the narrator says as Newsom’s picture blends with Rollins’.
The advert claims that Rollins, “just like Newsom,” will drive up gasoline costs, property and earnings taxes for residents of the Riverside County district that stretches from Corona to the Coachella Valley and contains Palm Springs.
“We can’t stop Newsom, but we can stop radical Will Rollins,” the advert says.
Newsom disregarded the advert as “politics,” however Rexroad mentioned the governor’s approval rankings in swing districts in California make him a simple foil for the GOP.
A statewide ballot performed by the Public Coverage Institute of California, or PPIC, in October discovered {that a} majority of voters disapprove of Newsom’s efficiency as governor. His rankings have been worse within the Central Valley, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire, the place about 6 in 10 voters disapprove.
These are the areas the place Democrats are working to flip a number of GOP-held Home seats.
“For [Republican Rep.] David Valadao, he would like nothing more than for [Democrat] Rudy Salas and Gavin Newsom to be on the front page of the Bakersfield Californian and all of the other news there for the rest of the election,” Rexroad mentioned. “The governor is extremely unpopular in the Central Valley.”
Newsom didn’t seem over the weekend within the Kern County district the place Salas is looking for to oust Valadao (R-Hanford).
The governor pushed again on the concept that Democrats have been involved about showing with him.
“Folks are looking for all the support they can get consistently and have throughout this campaign,” he mentioned.
In Orange County, Republicans seized on Newsom’s look days earlier than he even appeared with Tran.
In a information launch, Metal, Tran’s opponent, known as out Newsom’s function as his marketing campaign “closer.”
“Bringing Newsom to town tells voters everything they need to know about where Derek Tran’s loyalties lie: With the Sacramento crew that wants to take their tax raising, zero-bail policies to Washington,” Metal mentioned in an announcement.
Regardless of the numbers, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer mentioned Democratic campaigns are utilizing the governor as a result of they imagine he may also help. Newsom, she mentioned, is sweet at “delivering messages that cross over.”
“They are in the closing days, and they know who they want,” Boxer mentioned of the campaigns. “But I really think he’s an asset everywhere because I think he’s an excellent campaigner. He’s a very smart campaigner. He knows the issues that move people. I wouldn’t go by approval ratings — nobody’s off the charts.”
The previous couple of days of an election are largely about rising turnout and fewer so about altering minds, or flipping votes, when many citizens have already selected their candidate and turned in ballots.
PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare mentioned it is smart for congressional campaigns to make use of Newsom within the waning days of the election to drive Democrats to the polls.
“I don’t really see much of a downside risk,” Baldassare mentioned. “I see the upside of having the most well-known Democrat in California, other than Kamala Harris, out there as a possible motivator for Democrats more than a motivator for Republicans to go the other way.”
Newsom’s late appearances within the congressional districts give him a chance to later say he performed an element, even when minor, if Democrats win the Home. It additionally limits the potential injury and time GOP campaigns have to make use of his visits to their benefit.
Regardless of the critics of Newsom’s election priorities and potential motivations, it’s good for politicians to marketing campaign in a means that reinforces others and themselves, mentioned Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego.
“Politicians do things in their own self-interest,” Kousser mentioned. “But successful politicians do things that help them and their allies, and the savviest politicians do those things very visibly.”
