Is Gavin Newsom The New DeSantis?
Newsom probably doesn't like this comparison.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent time in the spotlight reminds me of a piece Jonathan V. Last at the Bulwark wrote the day after Donald Trump won re-elcection: “Democrats Need a Ron DeSantis.”
Joe Biden is in eclipse. Kamala Harris has been soundly rejected by the public. There is no one to bind the opposition together, to rally a force around in order to create a popular movement to oppose Trumpism.
When you look at the national stage, Donald Trump stands utterly triumphant. Unopposed. Without a credible rival even on the distant horizon. His forces are marshaled while the opposition is scattered and leaderless.
This might’ve felt needlessly defeatist on November 6, 2024, but within a few weeks, “scattered and leaderless” was almost a generous description of the Democratic Party. Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries stumbled right out of the gate, fully unprepared to meet the moment.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu announced at a press conference in December, “House Democrats are ready to work with the incoming administration and will extend a hand of bipartisanship whenever possible to make life better for everyday Americans.”
Trump had not even taken the oath of office and Democrats were already surrendering in advance, while waving the white flag of “bipartisanship.”
Last had predicted in November that the “task of pushing back against Trump will fall to the state level. It will be up to some Democratic governor to turn his or her state into the locus of opposition to Trumpism.”
Democrats need their own DeSantis. They need a governor who is willing to wage open war against Trumpism in his or her state, aggressively and unapologetically. They need someone who will turn their state into a rallying point and begin pushing back against political opponents in exactly the ways DeSantis showed could legally be done.
DeSantis is the governor of Florida, a state where Trump expanded his margin of victory in 2020, despite losing the presidential election (the Smithsonian might say otherwise now). That freed DeSantis to hammer Biden, as he never felt any political pressure to work him.
This is why Gavin Newsom in a better position than most other Democrats at the state level who might have their eyes on 2028. He’s governor of a solidly Democratic state. Kamala Harris, who’s from California, performed worse in the state than any Democratic candidate since John Kerry in 2004, but she still thumped Trump by almost 20 points.
Gretchen Whitmer and Josh Shapiro are all governors of states that Trump carried in 2024, and while those margins were narrow, they still held their immediate fire against him. Whitmer let Trump use her as a PR prop and she’s mostly negotiated with him from a clear position of weakness. Both Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear position themselves as a different sort of Democrat who can reach Trump voters. It’s a delicate dance.
Elissa Slotkin in Michigan and Ruben Gallego in Arizona have also criticized the national party and taken positions that align with Trump, particularly on immigration. (Both voted for the Laken-Riley Act.) John Fetterman has openly welcomed his new MAGA overlords.
Sometimes it can feel as if swing-state Democrats spend their time apologizing about the party and liberalism in general. So, although conventional wisdom suggests that you need a “Midwest moderate” to win the Rust Belt, a California Democrat could seem appealing when fundamental liberal values and culture are under constant attack. As The West Wing’s idealized Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinick said, California is “the one state that has everything: big cities, small towns, mountains, deserts, farms, factories, fishermen, surfers, all races, all religions, gay, straight, everything this country has. There's more ‘real America’ in California than anywhere else.”
I should probably state clearly that I am not endorsing Newsom. I have written multiple articles criticizing Newsom’s decision to platform far-right MAGA creeps on his podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom. However, I’m not sure the average primary voter will care, especially as Trump’s offenses grow. By 2028, Democrats will want a candidate who has actively punched back at Trump, not tried to work with him. As Newsom himself said, “You can’t work with Donald Trump. You can only work for him. And I will not. I refuse to work for Donald Trump.”
Politics is very much theatre, and Newsom has cast himself as the Democratic DeSantis, someone who’ll fight the current president, not compromise with him. It’s an obvious midseason retool, as Newsom had taken spurious positions on trans rights not so long ago. Unfortunately, he’s not alone there, and it’s unlikely a serious Democratic primary contender will challenge Newsom on trans issues or homelessness from the left.
Positions can (and ideally should) change, though. It’s harder to run away from toxic votes, like the Democrats who willingly voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Many Senate Democrats are still confirming Trump’s horror show nominees.
Last correctly pointed out last year that DeSantis didn’t have to worry about Biden using the full force of the federal government against him: “Biden did not withhold disaster relief out of spite. It would never have occurred to Biden to deploy the National Guard in Florida against DeSantis’s wishes.”
Trump’s advantages are too overwhelming and his lack of scruples make him too dangerous. Instead, Democratic governors will probably just try to keep their heads down while protecting what they can.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal aid from California, and he’s illegally deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles without consent from Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass. However, Newsom hasn’t just “kept his head down.” He has sued Trump over the military presence in California. He’s also filed a suit against the administration for terminating $4 billion in federal funds for high-speed rail.
This puts Newsom on a different level from DeSantis, who bullied a decent man without fear. There’s a clear risk whenever Newsom goes after Trump.
It’s probably once again necessary for me to stress that I’m not a Newsom booster. I just don’t consider concepts of “fairness” particularly relevant when covering politics. Yes, Newsom is not saying anything about Trump right now that Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris didn’t say previously. Unfortunately, politics (as well as comedy) is all about timing.
Barack Obama wasn’t the only or even the first person to openly oppose the Iraq War: 126 congressional Democrats (and the independent from Vermont) voted against authorizing military force in Iraq. In 2004, Democratic presidential candidates still supported the Iraq War while criticizing Bush’s leadership. That’s similar to how some Democrats tried to engage with Trump on immigration and even tariffs. By 2008, everyone agreed that the Iraq War was a disaster, but Dennis Kucinich didn’t receive any credit for being among the first.
Of course, Ron DeSantis ran for president in 2024 and utterly humiliated himself. As far as charismatic leaders go, he’s a fine attack dog, but if you let him off his leash, he runs around and soils the carpet. Still, DeSantis probably would have beaten the other lousy Republican candidates, including Nikki Haley. His fate was sealed when Donald Trump launched his third campaign on November 15, 2022. Trump was already the de facto party leader and running a shadow presidency. No other Democrat is doing this. Kamala Harris has comported herself more in line with past defeated presidential candidates, such as Mitt Romney. She’s written a book and remained vague about her 2028 intentions.
JB Pritzker is another Democratic DeSantis, if you’ll forgive the terminology. It’s interesting that a billionaire and another California liberal are the strongest contenders right now for the Democratic nomination, but unlike good theatre, politics doesn’t always make sense.
Not happy with Newsome and his getting in bed with these MAGA creeps but at least he’s not bringing piss to a shit fight.
There’s a whole array of Dem voices that can also be amplified like James Talarico and Crockett out of TX as an example. Hopefully more start to fight back hard.
No, he is the one and only Gavin C. Newsom. We are so grateful for the hope he brings us and the leadership he provides California. He is just what our country needs.