South Carolina destroyed Pete Buttigieg’s presidential hopes in 2020. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is hoping to avoid the same mistake, campaigning Tuesday and Wednesday in the rural northwest of the state.
In the 2020 Democratic Party primary, Buttigieg had performed well in Iowa and New Hampshire before heading to Nevada and South Carolina — the first two states with significant minority voter populations.
He faltered in Nevada, and was wiped out in South Carolina, as Joe Biden rode an endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) to a resounding victory. Buttigieg soon dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.
Democratic presidential hopefuls (from L) Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren participate in the tenth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2024, Democrats broke with tradition and made South Carolina their first primary state, in deference to its large black electorate, and in an effort to prevent potential rivals to ailing President Joe Biden from emerging.
Newsom, who has sometimes struggled with black voters, is stealing a march on Buttigieg, who is also one of the frontrunners for the 2028 nomination contest, which has begun even before the 2026 midterm elections.
The California governor abandoned his state — as he often does — in the midst of ongoing wildfires and protests against immigration enforcement. He said, before leaving, that his focus would be natural disasters.
But upon arrival, according to the Associated Press, Newsom’s message was starkly political, aimed at urging rural Democratic voters to oppose President Donald Trump and the Republicans in the midterm elections.
“I think it’s really important for Democrats that we spend time in parts of our states, parts of our country, that frankly, we haven’t spent enough time in, and so that’s why I’m here,” Newsom said, the AP reported.
The AP added:
The investment of time in a state pivotal to picking his party’s presidential nominees, and Newsom’s trajectory across some of its reddest areas, suggest that the term-limited governor is angling to shed his image as a San Francisco liberal and get ahead of what is sure to be a crowded 2028 Democratic primary field. The visit also will help him make inroads with the diverse Democratic electorate whose buy-in has long been seen as critical for their party’s nominee.
On Wednesday, Newsom turns toward the conservative Upstate, among the state’s most GOP-rich areas. He will kick off with an event in the small town of Seneca, which four-term GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham calls home. In last year’s general election, Trump won more than 75% of votes cast in surrounding Oconee County.
Treading in that territory fits with the image that Newsom has been cultivating for himself ahead of a possible White House bid.
Newsom has also taken time out from the many disasters affecting his state, and chronic budgetary problems, to launch a podcast on which he has interviewed conservatives in an effort to show his debating mettle.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
