Gavin Newsom teases White House plans after 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would consider running for president after the 2026 midterm elections, according to a CBS interview that aired Sunday.
Newsom told the national network on Thursday in San Jose that he would give the idea of running for the White House “serious thought” after next year’s contest and said he’d “be lying” if he said otherwise, but that any definite decision was “years away.”
The same day, Newsom’s interview with the All The Smoke podcast dropped, where he discussed watching his mother, Tessa Menzies, “hustle” while raising him, his sister and his foster siblings and working three jobs after separating from Newsom’s father, Judge William Newsom. Right-wing tabloids mocked Newsom and pointed to his friendship with the Getty family, whose fortunes funded his first business ventures.
The governor has positioned himself as President Donald Trump’s main political antagonist in recent months after Congress refused to reimburse California for relief aid after the Los Angeles wildfires and Republican states began to redraw congressional districts to shore up the GOP’s congressional majority. Newsom launched Proposition 50, which voters are expected to pass in next week’s special election, as an in-kind response to flip five House seats currently held by Republican lawmakers.
Newsom’s name has been floated as a presidential contender since his days as mayor of San Francisco. Until recently, he demurred when asked if he had any aspirations for higher office as he is termed out of Sacramento after Jan. 2027 and cannot run again.
“I have no thoughts on that,” Newsom told a Bee reporter during a Prop. 50 endorsement interview on Sept. 30 about running for president in 2028. “And that’s literally the last thing on my mind.”
His remarks come as the Democrats pin their hopes for a political comeback on Prop. 50 and other similar efforts in blue states.
Newsom’s national profile has risen during that time. National reporters have profiled him, and he has hosted Democratic lawmakers fleeing Texas to stymie a GOP-led redistricting effort, stumped in South Carolina, which is set to host the first Democratic primary in the 2028 race, and done a circuit of interviews with video game streamers and podcast hosts.
The same day the CBS interview aired, former Vice President Kamala Harris told the BBC that she would consider running for the White House again.
“I am not done,” Harris said. “I have lived my entire career as a life of service and it’s in my bones.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM.
