California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will seriously consider a presidential campaign after the 2026 midterms are over.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has confirmed he’s considering a 2028 presidential bid.
The Democrat revealed he will seriously think about a presidential campaign after the 2026 midterm elections are over, according to a pre-taped interview that aired on “CBS News Sunday Morning” Oct. 26.
“Yeah, I‘d be lying otherwise,” Newsom responded when he was asked about a potential presidential campaign. “I’d just be lying. And I’m no I can’t do that.”
Newsom, whose term as governor ends in January 2027, maintained that currently, he has “no idea” if he will enter the race.
“The idea that a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom, the idea that you would even throw that out is, in and of itself, extraordinary,” Newsom said in a separate interview with ”CBS News This Morning“ in South Carolina over the summer. “Who the hell knows? I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people.”
Newsom is unable to run for governor again due to term limit restrictions.
He has already toured several states that hold early primaries and caucuses, including a July trip to South Carolina; an early sign that he’s testing the temperature of voters.
Early primary and caucus states often include Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Newsom has been a strong critic of President Donald Trump.
The California governor spent the last week threatening to sue the Trump administration if it sends National Guard troops to San Francisco.
Trump initially planned to deploy troops on Oct. 25 but paused that decision after speaking to friends and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who “very nicely” requested an opportunity to crack down on crime without federal intervention.
A 2028 bid could resurface Newsom’s controversies in the past such as COVID-19 orders and policies in the state he governs that contributed to a mass exodus of residents and businesses like Tesla, Charles Schwab, Chevron, and In-N-Out Burger.
More than 412,000 people moved out of California between July 2020 and July 2023. However, the state’s population grew by 49,000 between July 2023 to July 2024, according to data provided by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The two-term governor also faced backlash during the COVID-19 pandemic when he violated his own stay-at-home order to dine with maskless lobbyists at the French Laundry in November 2020 as many businesses were forced to remain closed.
By Jacki Thrapp
