The latest fundraising campaign for California Governor Gavin Newsom has an interesting target audience: everywhere in the country other than California, fueling speculation that the attention-seeking governor is building support for a 2028 presidential run.
Newsom, who has done his best to thrust himself into the national conversation in recent weeks, is running a series of internet fundraising campaigns this month in support of a proposition to further gerrymander California. The move comes in direct response to the Republican effort to redistrict in Texas, with Newsom positioning himself as the man standing in opposition to President Donald Trump and national Republicans.
“We’re not gonna watch Donald Trump rig the next election, we’re not just gonna sit back and watch what’s happening in Texas and not respond to it,” Newsom says in one ad. “It’s time to fight fire with fire. We’re going to the ballot. We’re going to redistrict here in the state of California but we’re going to need your help.”
According to Google’s ad transparency center, Newsom’s team is targeting a series of the ads only at people outside of California, potentially allowing Newsom to build a national donor list and grow his profile across the country.
Screenshot of Google ad transparency center
The ad ran in two different forms: one targeting California and another targeting the rest of the country. Another ad, which was also specifically targeted at people outside Newsom’s state, claimed that Newsom’s effort sought to address “an emergency for our democracy.”
The ads are an early indicator that Newsom is attempting to build a national donor list and garner wider name recognition ahead of the 2028 presidential election, in which he is widely speculated to be a leading Democratic candidate. Newsom’s has spent the last couple of weeks posting obsessively on social media in opposition to Trump, attempting to emulate the Republican president’s manner of writing.
Hannah Milgrom, the spokeswoman for the legislative effort, denied that the ad campaign indicates that Newsom is attempting to build a national donor list ahead of a potential presidential run.
“Total BS,” Milgrom said. “Americans rightfully oppose Trump’s attempt to rig the 2026 midterm elections and steal five house seats before a single person has voted,” she added. “That’s why tens of thousands of small dollar donors across the country are giving $5 and $10 dollars to the our [sic] campaign through these ads.”
It is, however, exactly that fact that fuels the speculation about his intentions with the redistricting ads. These small donors will make up the base of a potential 2028 presidential run, where he will have to build support across the country to emerge from a primary. His potential primary opponents, such as Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, have already amassed the massive lists essential to win a national campaign.
And it isn’t just the new ads that indicate the Democrat governor could be prepping for a presidential run. Newsom has also delivered speeches in South Carolina, a state that holds particular strategic importance in the Democratic primary process.
Newsom is currently the leading Democratic candidate on the betting website Polymarket, which gives him a 24% chance of becoming the Democratic nominee. Newsom ranks ahead of ahead of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Recent polling shows that Newsom is the second-most popular Democrat candidate behind former Vice President and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, but still ahead of Ocasio-Cortez and Buttigieg.
