"I unfortunately, though, feel it's decisive, inappropriate, and frankly, I feel it's shameful to divide this country like this at a time when we need to unite this country. And I find it unfortunate the president's decided to make [opposing gay marriage] a political priority," spoke Gavin Newsom in 2004, the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. "And what we were doing previous to our detective, was, I believe, discriminating people. And I find that abhorrent and I find that inappropriate. ... Now 3,300-plus couples have affirmed their love."
Critics have attacked Newsom for a long time for being an attack dog. And on that, they are absolutely right. Only a month into his term did he make national news in "his decision to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couple." Of course, this was struck down by the Supreme Court of California. It would take eleven more years for Obergefell to be passed (see The Pillar of Obergefell.) Yet, Newsom wasn't afraid of the heat, in fact, he thrived in it. Newsom may loathe the comparison, but the chords he plays are Trumpian: getting into controversy, and abusing it to make headlines, as Trump himself did in the 2016 election "earn[ing] close to $2 billion worth of media attention" through primarily controversy.
The Supreme Court of California annulled the marriages, as they conflicted with state law, yet the move was no less of a success for Newsom. He perhaps knew this would happen, and perhaps recognized the tragedy that would occur for the thousands of gay couples who got licenses in his state. He was well aware of the law passed in 2000, of course. But were they not just the "cost of doing business" for someone like him? Why care about gay couples when you can use them to win?
Newsom himself, by all means, is a corporate Democrat. He's the suit-and-tie, market loving Democrat who would admonish his more progressive allies. His attraction to the business side of the game has left him in no shortage of friends; he is a symbol of business himself as the founder of PlumpJack Associates L.P., a company that owns various wineries, inns and various services. But Newsom struck this careful, deliberate chord of someone who the conservatives who loved the market could support, and the socially progressives could support. Newsom was a symbol of unity who seemed confident and daring, willing to speak on behalf of the people. In the 2003 San Francisco election he won with 53% of the vote, but in 2007? He faced no "serious threat to his re-election bid" as declared in The San Francisco Chronicle in August, and was elected with over 72% of the vote.
After a mayoral reign that legitimized him throughout California with his daringness to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, his anti homelessness initiatives, universal health care through Healthy San Francisco, and so on, while still retaining support amongst market conservatives, he was made very popular. One quoted resonated with his audience: "This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not." Newsom was not one to back down. Newsom won over 50% of the vote in the California lieutenant governor race (over 11% more than the incumbent despite lacking the home-field advantage), and had that share increased to 57% in the next election.
Two years into Newsom's second term was the 2016 presidential election, which would be a hallmark of the change in the status quo of American politics. Newsom praised Clinton, saying she "does stuff, she fights for us on the big issues", and saying that she "has dedicated her life to putting the American Dream within reach. She believes in diversity over division." And of course, he admonished Trump all the same, saying Trump those same values of "liberty, diversity, opportunity", which "are fundamentally American values", were "under attack" by Trump. Trump wants a "hostile takeover of the American dream" "built on two fundamental lies: That America is a dark and desperate place, and that he has any kind of a plan to make it better." He cites Trump's "contempt for the constitution, inhumane mass deportation, malice toward different views and different hues."
Of course, Donald Trump won, for reasons that aren't so surprising in hindsight. I'll discuss it when I write, How Trump toppled the Bush and Clinton dynasties, but for now we can focus on how exactly it refocused Newsom. As a reminder, Newsom was an attack dog, and Trump? Who better to attack?
Newsom ran for governor in the 2018 race for governor in California. How did Newsom win? As the LA Times described it, he "ran an abashedly Trump-centric campaign, one that alternated between forceful confrontation and winking sarcasm but always framed the president — rather than Republican opponent John Cox — as his rival." After his primary, his campaign's communications director framed it as "a choice between a Governor who will stand up to Donald Trump and a Republican who stands with Donald Trump." It reminds you of Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign in New York City, "Let our words ring out so loud tonight that Andrew Cuomo can hear them in his $8,000 dollar a month apartment ... let them ring so loud that his puppet-master in the white house hears us."
On Newsom's first day in office in 2019, in his inaugural address, he announces, "We will offer an alternative to the corruption and incompetence in the White House," and how the people of California will not be "left hungry while politicians seek to pour billions into a wall that should never be built." Repeatedly throughout his first two years as governor did he attack Trump repeatedly, saying California "will continue to fight against these efforts to terrorize immigrant families", and that the attempts to revoke the state's clean air waiver were "lacking any modicum of technical, legal, or scientific support." On January 6th, he called the events "an outright assault to our democracy and Democratic institutions."
But it is with Trump's second term that Newsom, who confirmed he's been considering a run for president (and said if he said he wasn't he'd "just be lying"), has been given a new wave of publicity. Newsom is out for blood. Following Trump's victory, Newsom immediately described how the "freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack." When Trump deployed the California National Guard to the city without Newsom's consent to subvert him, Newsom sued Trump to try to block the deployment. The federal court granted this injunction, which Newsom described as "the court sid[ing] with democracy", and criticizing Trump for trying to be a king and trying to create a "national police force." Newsom has repeatedly called out Trump's "weakness masquerading as strength", described his "authoritarianism", described how democracy is "under assault right before our eyes." He has repeatedly criticized "Trump's illegal tariffs" as "betrayal and grift", and even has been mocking the president in all caps style, like this example:
FOX HATES THAT I AM AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR ("RATINGS KING") SAVING AMERICA – WHILE TRUMP CAN’T EVEN CONQUER THE ‘BIG’ STAIRS ON AIR FORCE ONE ANY MORE!!! … FOX IS LOSING IT BECAUSE WHEN I TYPE, AMERICA NOW WINS!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
Trump himself hasn't been happy about this, calling him "Newscum", and threatening to arrest him. Newsom, represents something new with the Democrats. The Democrats of yesterday were best symbolized by Michelle Obama's "they go low, we go high." When they break the rules, we let them. We'll choose our philosophical victories over real victories regarding real lives. In a system of values-neutral governance, as long as you play your part, the system itself will output justice. And we'll let you steal justice, our justice, and let Trump appoint the one instead once our conservative ally is in office! But when the rules are broken, that doesn't exactly work. The Democrats of today have started to realize this in droves. The ongoing government shutdown is set to become the longest in history as Trump refuses to bargain with the Democrats and even antagonizes his own allies by threatening to remove the filibuster. But the Democrats haven't been budging, and Newsom is the perfect symbol of that with his sheer defiance.
Newsom, lover of the game, fighting back against the corruption he so fiercely criticizes... with more corruption. The Election Rigging Response Act, is set to suspend California's independent redistricting commission, and replace it with new gerrymandered maps that would let Democrats flip up to five Republican seats! This is a response to the redistricting efforts done in Texas. Newsom calls this "fight[ing] fire with fire", saying we can't "watch this democracy disappear district by district. It's not good enough to just hold hands, have a candlelight vigil and talk about the way things should be." Newsom is a rebellion against the old, passive Democrat, he is bold, inflammatory, and one with fire. Of course, he posted another one of his most eloquent, fantastic tweets from his press office.
DONALD “TACO” TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, “MISSED” THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE “BEAUTIFUL MAPS,” THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!). BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR “MAGA.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN
In a way, Newsom is blue Trump: a populist, willing to bend and break the rules for advantage, deliberately thrives off of chaos and controversy to build publicity. And just like Trump, when he says he'll do something, he does it. The Democrats have realized that if they want to beat the Republicans, they need to play the same game.
Newsom isn't a saint, in fact, he's far from one. Newsom, who banked on the initial publicity he got from his first month as mayor of San Francisco approving gay marriage licenses, has now with his control over state government "convened an emergency meeting" cutting seventeen million dollars from the LBTQ Health Equity Fund, "halt[ing] life-affirming services" and "stripping care from those who need it most", a "betrayal of queer and trans Californians." On Charlie Kirk's podcast in March 2025, he called transgender women in female sports "deeply unfair." Newsom vetoed two "notable health care access bills", including SB-418, which "would have offered an additional safeguard for people who receive hormone therapy ... amid federal attacks on gender affirming care." And to be fair, he did give reasons for his vetoes, citing risks of raising high health insurance premiums... but his record doesn't exactly make us sure to believe that. And in similar ways has he betrayed homeless people, vetoing Assembly Bill 255 that would have allowed Californian cities to "spend up to 10% of state homeless funding on sober housing for people in recovery", calling it "duplicative and costly."
But right now, the Democrats don't want a saint. They need someone who's willing to get their hands dirty, who's willing to break the rules that they once cared so much about protecting. When campaigning begins in 2028, the first question that's going to be asked is, "What did you do to fight Trump?" And Newsom will be ready with his answer, the shark with blood in the water. The new Democratic Party is not the one we've seen with Michelle Obama, but the one embodied through Newsom.
Only history will tell us whether this choice was a strategic choice to preserve democracy, or the mutual acceptance that the era of bipartisanship and "mutual toleration" (as Levitsky calls it) are over.