Gov. Gavin Newsom is parachuting back into New Hampshire this weekend to support Democrats in the midterm elections — and perhaps lock up support in a key primary state ahead of the 2028 presidential race.
The California governor, who previously went to the Granite State in March to hawk his memoir, will campaign for Democrats across New Hampshire on Saturday, mixing voter rallies and fundraising with face time in a state poised to help shape the 2028 presidential race.
Among the scheduled appearances for Newsom is a visit to Exeter with Rep. Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire congressman who’s also a candidate for US Senate.
New Hampshire is the latest stop on whirlwind year of travel for Newsom, whose political roadshow has taken him from Southern campaign stops to rubbing elbows with global elites.
Earlier this year, the governor visited the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Munich Security Conference in Germany and London, where he signed a clean-energy agreement with the United Kingdom.
The European swing came with a roughly $57,000 tab for flights, hotels and meals, according to records previously obtained by The California Post. Those expenses were covered through the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit funded by wealthy donors and corporations — giving Newsom’s globe-trotting ambitions some well-heeled help.
California’s governor has also been working the Southern campaign circuit.
In September, Newsom swung through Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina — marking his seventh visit to the South in three years. His team pitched the tour as a push for Democrats in the midterms, but it also offered valuable introductions in South Carolina, which will lead off the party’s 2028 presidential nominating calendar.
Newsom’s memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” offered him the biggest vehicle for getting out of California, with a national promotional tour that included Nashville, Boston and New York. His federal political committees spent more than $1.5 million buying copies and tens of thousands more renting venues for campaign-style events — an expensive but savvy way to introduce himself to readers who might eventually become voters, while also adding “bestselling author” to his résumé.
New Hampshire remains an important early proving ground for presidential candidates after the Democratic National Committee approved a 2028 calendar putting the state third in the primary pecking order, just after South Carolina and Nevada. Newsom also visited Nevada in March and July.
The governor has already been making political down payments in New Hampshire, as his team has touted more than $526,000 in contributions funneled to New Hampshire Democrats this cycle via more than 23,500 contributions. Beneficiaries include the state party, Pappas and congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen.
Nationally, Newsom has raised more than $6.5 million for Democrats this cycle, according to his team.
In Nashua, Newsom will join Pappas and gubernatorial candidate Cinde Warmington for a canvassing launch at a Democratic field office he helped fund through an earlier email appeal.
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Newsom will also join a voter mobilization event in Exeter with Pappas before a meet-and-greet Saturday evening with Shaheen.
Newsom’s team is billing the visit as a push to help Democrats win next month’s midterm elections — all while Kamala Harris’ comeback hopes are reportedly floundering with longtime supporters, according to a report by Politico.
“She totally blew it,” Doug Herman, a lead mail strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, told the outlet. “She hasn’t gotten into the mix.”
Newsom, who vowed not to challenge Harris if she decides to run for president a third time, seems unconcerned about telegraphing his own interest in a presidential campaign — and his weekend itinerary will offer plenty of opportunities to make an impression with New Hampshire voters.
