California Gov. Gavin Newsom is clearly positioning himself for a 2028 run at the White House.
He is term-limited in the role of governor in 2026, which will give him a two-year timeframe with no other commitments to hold him back.
However, Newsom is not alone, but the big players are not the ones you likely think.
Last week, some new polls came out regarding the frontrunners for the 2028 Democratic Party primary race, and there was a shocking new leader atop the pack.
Kamala Harris’ massive 30-point lead was gone, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had pulled into the lead.
Not only that, but the rest of the field started to catch up as well, including Newsom, who scored some major points with the left for his stand against Trump on bringing in the National Guard to quell anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
Buttigieg was in the lead at 16%, then Harris at 13%, with Newsom right behind at 12%. AOC and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro rounded out the top of the field at 7% each.
While everyone else is talking about Newsom, Harris, and Buttigieg, the man that scares me the most is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Khanna is a masterful speaker and can paint himself as a moderate when he is anything but.
In a field of very disappointing candidates, if he decides to make a move, we are going to have to keep a close on eye on him, because I think he is a real threat to win and make a run at the presidency.
Khanna is very quietly carving out his own lane, doing all the media appearances and hitting different pockets of the country to test the waters. We dismiss him at our peril.
When Joe Biden started to slip in the 2024 race, Newsom was touring red states trying to make a dent, clearly testing the waters, but denying it the entire time.
There is no reason for someone like Newsom to visit Texas, but there he was, along with a handful of other red states, and now he is touring rural South Carolina next week, so he is clearly up to something.
Newsom's schtick will center on natural disasters, which he has horribly mismanaged in California, but competence is not at the top of the list for Democrat voters these days.
One final note on this... Newsom's upcoming appearance is sponsored by the South Carolina Democratic Party, so this is about testing the waters, not about scrutinizing his horrific natural disaster recovery skills. My guess is that Newsom will visit poor and minority communities, promising them the world, as if they have not heard that from Democrats before. But why change the recipe when the dish sells out every night?
