Admit It. Gavin Newsom Is the 2028 Front-runner. (Politico) [View all]

For years, Democrats and pundits have rolled their eyes at Gavin Newsom. But he’s positioned better than anyone else for the future of politics.

SAN FRANCISCO — No Democrat has had a better two years than Gavin Newsom and because of it, the California governor — a national figure since he was a 36-year-old boy mayor — has claimed a new title: front-runner. It’s easy to find Newsom naysayers. In fact, there may not be a modern political figure who was simultaneously so well-positioned to be his party’s nominee and so doubted by the smart set since, well, Joe Biden in 2020.

So let’s not make the mistake of ignoring what’s in plain view and give the governor his due. By the old rules of Democratic nominations, Newsom fits neatly in the tradition of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama: younger, outsider candidates who could credibly run fresh campaigns against the Washington status quo of both parties while claiming enough insider credentials to reassure party mandarins who care about such things.

The San Franciscan has never lived a day outside of California, presents younger than 58 because of his hair and genes and has endeared himself to his party rank-and-file by criticizing Democratic leaders for not fighting harder before leading by example to confront Donald Trump. Newsom also attended and scribbled notes at the first Clinton Global Initiative meeting in 2005 and has to be the only first-term lieutenant governor to have Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg and Arianna Huffington blurb his book (a tome we shall come back to).

Newsom is also the best-positioned Democrat according to the new rules of politics — namely, whether you are or can become famous by breaking through on social media. Ask yourself: How many other potential candidates are plausible celebrities who can transcend the political-pop culture divide a la Obama and Trump? If you believe the phone in your hand will, more than any factor, determine the next Democratic nominee, it’s hard not to grasp Newsom’s strength. As the kids say, he gives main character energy.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/15/gavin-newsom-interview-2028-frontrunner-00652362

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Newsom has taken the whip and done what has needed to be done. And a lot of us Democrats have breathed a sigh of relief because of what he's done. Will that hold up down the road? We'll see.