California Governor Gavin Newsom has steadily risen in the ranks among potential Democratic candidates in the 2028 presidential election, with the most recent jump coinciding with his attacks on President Donald Trump.
Newsom, long thought to be a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the next election, has a 13 percent favorability compared to other potential candidates – a 3 percent jump from last month, according to Echelon Insights.
That most recent jump, which was recorded in a mid-August poll, indicates that potential voters are responding positively to Newsom’s recent strategy of consistently calling out Trump, mocking and trolling the administration on social media, and aggressively pushing back against the president’s agenda.
That includes launching an effort to redraw California’s congressional districts before the 2026 midterm election to pick up more House seats, thus canceling out Republicans’ same effort in Texas.
For months, polling has shown that potential Democratic voters want to see party leaders push back more aggressively on Trump’s agenda, which he has been able to swiftly implement with limited roadblocks because Republicans control the House and Senate.
Members of the party have expressed frustration with Democrats for lacking consistent messaging and a clear action plan.
However, Newsom has vowed to continue fighting Trump and other MAGA Republicans – using his social media to obtain national recognition.
Over the last month, Newsom’s office has gone viral for mimicking Trump’s all-caps social media posts that often recycle the same language. Using memes, Newsom has attempted to capitalize on the same methods that the White House itself uses to reach voters about its policies.
The California governor and his team have used the social media tactic to poke fun at or undermine prominent Republicans when they launch attacks at Newsom or Democratic policies.
In recent days, Newsom has mocked Vice President JD Vance for getting into a verbal spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this year, patronized Texas Senator Ted Cruz for making a math mistake during the Texas redistricting spat, trolled Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren for insulting the social media tactics, and more.
While Newsom has not launched an official bid for the Democratic nomination, polling across the political spectrum indicates he’s gaining momentum.
McLaughlin and Associates, a conservative polling group, put Newsom’s favorability at 9 percent in July – a 5 percent increase from his favorability in May.
Morning Consult, a left-leaning polling group, said Newsom’s favorability in a 2028 primary was roughly 5 percent in March but jumped to 11 percent in June.
Emerson College put Newsom’s polling at around 12 percent in June.
“In today's fractured media environment, it's never been more important to communicate immediately and effectively. Governor Newsom gets that," Lindsey Cobia, a spokesperson for Newsom, told Axios in July. "While the Trump administration uses these tactics to demean and belittle the powerless, Gavin Newsom is using them to stand up to the powerful and call out the authoritarian methods of the current White House occupant."
The next presidential election will be on November 7, 2028. Primaries and caucuses will be held in the run-up to the election to find candidates for both the Democratic and Republican parties. While he has joked about standing for a third term, Trump will be unable to run again as the constitution limits presidents to a maximum of two full terms.
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