Gavin Newsom Is Campaigning In Red States – Can He Win In 2024? – California Governor Gavin Newsom isn’t exactly known for his success as governor – but Democrats do know he possesses a certain charm that could help him win a presidential election.
The high-profile Democrat has spent months now campaigning across the United States, sharing online materials that certainly make it look like he’s running a national election campaign, and chatter about him being a potential replacement for President Joe Biden in 2024 has reached an all-time high.
Some even say that Newsom is doing more to raise his profile in Republican states than the White House is – even though President Joe Biden has announced his 2024 campaign, and Newsom continues to deny that he’s even considering running.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, Republican consultant Rob Stutzman added weight to the theory that Newsom is playing the long game.
“He’s putting in time and effort that no one else outside the White House appears to be,” Stutzman said. “He’s acting like the candidate-in-waiting. Someday it may pay off for him.”
The interview came as Newsom was vacationing in Montana with his family, shortly after he spent time in Idaho, and was preparing to visit Utah. If Newsom’s presence in those three solidly Red states was more than coincidental, then it suggests that the California governor is not only preparing to run for president at some point, but shows true optimism that he may be able to win over states that vote Republican no matter what.
Idaho alone has voted for every single Republican presidential candidate for almost the last 70 years.
Gavin Newsom: How Could He Become the Candidate?
Let’s face it: Newsom is probably running. What we don’t know is when he intends to do it. If Newsom is planning on replacing President Joe Biden as the party’s presumptive nominee for 2024, then he’ll need one of three things to happen.
First, and perhaps least likely, is that Newsom thinks the president will either die or become incapacitated before the time the Democratic National Convention arrives and the party chooses its candidate. More likely, though, is that Newsom thinks the president may simply step aside – or be forced to step aside by his own party – because his approval ratings are too low, his age has obviously become a problem, and he is at risk of losing to former President Donald Trump.
Alternatively, if Newsom is adamant that 2024 is the race he wants to win, he’ll need to launch a campaign to beat President Joe Biden this time around. If he does that, though, he’ll need to ensure he has big-name backers behind him. Without that support, and without a shot at winning, Newsom could become the Ron DeSantis of the Democratic Party – a rising star shot down to earth by a bigger, more powerful name.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
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