California made Gavin Newsom famous. Will it drag down his 2028 presidential ambitions?

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Gavin Newsom’s secret is no secret here in South Carolina.

They were selling “Gavin 2028” buttons outside his events this past week as he trekked across the state that will hold Democrats’ first presidential primary. His allies, the state party chair, college presidents and pro-Newsom activists all openly hinted at his national aspirations. And people close to him privately referred to a White House campaign as “the next thing.”

Still, California’s Democratic governor has barely begun to address what may be his biggest political liability as he stakes a claim as an early front-runner in the Democratic Party’s 2028 shadow primary. That liability, South Carolina voters acknowledged this past week, is something he cannot change - his home state, California, is a symbol of modern-day liberalism that people across the political spectrum love to hate.

Vera DeVito, a 78-year-old Democrat who packed into one of Newsom’s eight public events across South Carolina, said she didn’t know much about him or his policies - except that he’s from the Golden State. On that basis alone, she suggested that supporting Newsom could be “risky.”

“It’s going to be hard for him to appeal to the whole country,” she said in the town of Summerville. “Everybody thinks California is different - especially in the South. They’re not crazy about California.”

Newsom’s home state stands in stark contrast with likely primary competitors who hail from battlegrounds like Michigan’s Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro. Should they run, which is likely, all could make credible claims that they are in a better position to win over the moderate and independent voters ultimately needed to win the presidency.

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PHOTOS: California made Gavin Newsom famous. Will it drag down his 2028 presidential ambitions?

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Newsom’s team acknowledges that “California derangement syndrome” is real. In the almost half-century since former California Gov. Ronald Reagan first won the presidency, the state has produced a long list of failed White House contenders, including Gov. Pete Wilson, Gov. Jerry Brown, businessman Tom Steyer, and most recently Vice President Kamala Harris.

Despite such daunting history, Newsom is not hiding his interest in the presidency. In an interview, he left open the possibility of announcing his decision before the end of the year.

“It’s the right question. Honestly, I don’t know,” Newsom told The Associated Press. “I think this thing’s happening. I mean, you already feel it, right? There are folks out here - they’re saying they’re already starting to interview state directors. So this thing is going to happen very, very quickly.”

Voters like that Newsom is ‘not intimidated’ by Trump

Newsom’s breakneck pace in South Carolina - which included a handful of private engagements in addition to his public events - mirrored or even exceeded that of a presidential campaign.

His visit was billed as part of his “take it back tour” across states in the Deep South where he argues that President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are rolling back civil rights.

He opened the trip on Wednesday with one day in Alabama and finished on Saturday with two stops in North Carolina. But the overwhelming focus was South Carolina, which will host the Democratic Party’s opening presidential primary contest in little more than a year. It was Newsom’s third trip to South Carolina this midterm season.

The voters who crowded into community halls, courthouses and a university lecture hall talked openly about Newsom’s presidential ambitions, even as Democrats try to keep the focus on November’s midterm elections.

“He has strong potential,” said Kirk Bovill, a 65-year-old semi-retired actor and former Los Angeles resident who now lives in Summerville. “The question is how he’s perceived outside of California. People might think he’s too Hollywood.”

“The one thing he does very well: He doesn’t have a problem standing up to Trump,” Bovill continued. “He’s not intimidated.”

Indeed, Newsom’s message this past week was overwhelmingly focused on attacking Trump and rallying Democrats to stand up against him.

“We cannot do business as usual. We need to fight fire with fire,” Newsom told roughly 150 people gathered inside a Lexington, S.C. community center on Friday. “We’ve got to meet this moment and recognize what we’re up against. We’re up against an invasive species in the name of Donald Trump.”

At every stop, Newsom highlighted the hundreds of millions of dollars Trump and his family have made from crypto currency and other private business dealings since the 2024 election; Trump’s decision to dispatch the National Guard to Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities; the federal immigration agents that have descended upon Los Angeles and other cities under Trump’s direction; and Trump’s push to disrupt the midterm elections, including his recent move to limit mail voting.

“Donald Trump is ruthless. He’s ruthless. He’s going to try to steal this election,” Newsom charged. “He is not screwing around. Neither can we.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Newsom faces criticism that he’s from the ‘Wrong Coast’

Republican activists protesting outside of some of Newsom’s stops focused largely on his connection to California.

CJ Westfall, the Republican chairman of Dorchester County, described Newsom as “a far-left extreme Democrat who’s probably the front-runner of this (presidential) race right now.” He was surrounded by protesters who waved signs that read things like, “Wrong Coast” and “Clean Up Your State First.”

“We don’t want Gavin Newsom to California our South Carolina,” Westfall said.

Newsom’s team acknowledges widespread dislike for California, even among some Democrats, but argues that the California governor is gifted and experienced at fighting back against such criticism on the national stage. Newsom is a regular on Fox News, he faced Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a debate and he was the most prominent national surrogate for former President Joe Biden’s campaign.

Newsom acknowledged that California is both a political liability and “the greatest opportunity” because the California story has only been told on the national stage by “people that have ’California Derangement Syndrome.’” He said it would play far differently if he’s able to reframe the conversation in 2028.

“In a Democratic primary, in particular - we’ve got the receipts, things that the party is arguing for, we’ve delivered across a spectrum of issues,” he told AP.

Indeed, some of the achievements that Republican critics attack him for are the same issues that might play well among Democratic base voters.

California under Newsom’s leadership has enacted progressive priorities such as expanded healthcare coverage regardless of immigration status, expanded paid sick leave, universal free school meals, a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, protections for women from other states seeking abortions, aggressive climate change and gun control laws and a death penalty moratorium.

California also remains the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fourth-largest economy, even as critics decry the state’s high taxes that have pushed some businesses and residents alike into other states. The population has been growing since a COVID-era dip, however.

While South Carolina voters may have had mixed views on California, several said they were drawn in by Newsom’s celebrity image. The 58-year-old Democrat certainly looked the part of a made-for-TV president as he charmed voters in his plain white dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up and no tie.

“We don’t get that many famous people here in Aiken. He’s pretty famous,” said 73-year-old Monty Fetterolf, who attended one of Newsom’s Friday events in Aiken, S.C.

DeVito, the 78-year-old Democrat from Summerville, said Newsom still has work to do.

“He’s a little slick - not a lot of meat,” she said after listening to his speech in Dorchester. “But he’s good looking, which helps.”