Politics
After campaigning outside California, Newsom spends final days of election in home state
Throughout this election cycle, California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled the country campaigning for the Democratic presidential ticket, making stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Nevada.
He ran his own campaign to raise money for Democrats in red states, became the party’s fighter on conservative television shows and acted as a proxy for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
After crisscrossing America, the Democratic governor is spending the final days of the 2024 election in a place where he hasn’t campaigned very much this year: his home state.
“You can do anything. You can’t do everything,” Newsom said about his effort to balance his responsibilities to campaign nationally and in California during an interview. “I mean, if there was an eighth day I’d use it.”
Newsom’s appearances this weekend in Orange County highlighted an irony of his strategy: As the governor wooed donors in Boise, Idaho, and defended Biden in Atlanta, Democrats in California have waged a fierce fight in key congressional races largely without the state’s most powerful politician by their side.
California has several battleground House races that will help determine which party controls Congress next year. The closest contests are in regions of the state where polls show Newsom is most unpopular with voters. The governor’s decision to spend more time campaigning outside California than in its most competitive districts may actually help his Golden State allies — and his own political career.
“He’s not only working on the presidential campaign for Vice President Harris, but there’s no doubt that he’s also working on his own potential presidential campaign, and he doesn’t need to do that in California,” said Matt Rexroad, a Republican strategist. “He knows all those people.”
With two years left before term limits force Newsom out of the governor’s office, traveling the nation for Biden and Harris allowed him to showcase himself as a seasoned politician and a prolific fundraiser while building up his list of supporters outside California. The pilgrimages into GOP territory branded the governor as a pugilist capable of landing shots on the Republican Party and former President Trump.
Though Newsom endorsed just a handful of Democrats running for Congress and declined to take an official stance on seven of the 10 measures on the statewide ballot, the governor said he’s put in work as California’s top Democrat.
He raised nearly $2 million for eight Democratic candidates in California congressional contests, his aides said, and has made appearances in several districts throughout the long campaign season.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fundraising for the congressional folks for almost two years,” Newsom said.
On Sunday, Newsom joined a lineup that included Senate candidate Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks, state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and several others rallying for Democrat Derek Tran at a United Food and Commercial Workers union hall in Buena Park.
He told the crowd he was there for two main reasons: to thank the volunteers canvassing and making calls for Democrats and to support Tran in his effort to oust Republican Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) — a contest considered one of the most important congressional races in the country.
“That’s how important you are to the fate and future, not just of this district, but in many respects, the fate and future of this country,” Newsom said to campaign workers in the room.
Though Newsom wasn’t physically present in Orange County and Palm Springs for most of the election, he became a central figure in some of the races.
Republican incumbents have been tying their Democratic challengers to Newsom in an effort to scare off moderate voters and stoke their base.
In an ad by GOP Rep. Ken Calvert’s campaign in Congressional District 41, the governor’s face transforms into that of Calvert’s Democratic opponent, Will Rollins.
“He’s slick, loves taxes, and more liberal than Gavin Newsom,” the narrator says as Newsom’s image blends with Rollins’.
The ad claims that Rollins, “just like Newsom,” will drive up gas prices, property and income taxes for residents of the Riverside County district that stretches from Corona to the Coachella Valley and includes Palm Springs.
“We can’t stop Newsom, but we can stop radical Will Rollins,” the ad says.
Newsom brushed off the ad as “politics,” but Rexroad said the governor’s approval ratings in swing districts in California make him an easy foil for the GOP.
A statewide poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, in October found that a majority of voters disapprove of Newsom’s performance as governor. His ratings were worse in the Central Valley, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire, where about 6 in 10 voters disapprove.
Those are the regions where Democrats are working to flip several GOP-held House seats.
“For [Republican Rep.] David Valadao, he would like nothing more than for [Democrat] Rudy Salas and Gavin Newsom to be on the front page of the Bakersfield Californian and all of the other news there for the rest of the election,” Rexroad said. “The governor is extremely unpopular in the Central Valley.”
Newsom didn’t appear over the weekend in the Kern County district where Salas is seeking to oust Valadao (R-Hanford).
The governor pushed back on the idea that Democrats were concerned about appearing with him.
“Folks are looking for all the support they can get consistently and have throughout this campaign,” he said.
In Orange County, Republicans seized on Newsom’s appearance days before he even appeared with Tran.
In a news release, Steel, Tran’s opponent, called out Newsom’s role as his campaign “closer.”
“Bringing Newsom to town tells voters everything they need to know about where Derek Tran’s loyalties lie: With the Sacramento crew that wants to take their tax raising, zero-bail policies to Washington,” Steel said in a statement.
Despite the numbers, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said Democratic campaigns are using the governor because they believe he can help. Newsom, she said, is good at “delivering messages that cross over.”
“They are in the closing days, and they know who they want,” Boxer said of the campaigns. “But I really think he’s an asset everywhere because I think he’s an excellent campaigner. He’s a very smart campaigner. He knows the issues that move people. I wouldn’t go by approval ratings — nobody’s off the charts.”
The last few days of an election are largely about increasing turnout and less so about changing minds, or flipping votes, when many voters have already decided on their candidate and turned in ballots.
PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare said it makes sense for congressional campaigns to use Newsom in the waning days of the election to drive Democrats to the polls.
“I don’t really see much of a downside risk,” Baldassare said. “I see the upside of having the most well-known Democrat in California, other than Kamala Harris, out there as a possible motivator for Democrats more than a motivator for Republicans to go the other way.”
Newsom’s late appearances in the congressional districts give him an opportunity to later say he played a part, even if minor, if Democrats win the House. It also limits the potential damage and time GOP campaigns have to use his visits to their advantage.
Despite the critics of Newsom’s election priorities and potential motivations, it’s smart for politicians to campaign in a way that boosts others and themselves, said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego.
“Politicians do things in their own self-interest,” Kousser said. “But successful politicians do things that help them and their allies, and the savviest politicians do those things very visibly.”
U.S. military forces stopped and boarded a second sanctioned tanker carrying oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon said on Thursday, ramping up pressure on Tehran as the Trump administration seeks to resume negotiations to end the war.
A naval boarding team roped down from hovering helicopters and fanned out on the vessel, the M/T Majestic X, according to a Pentagon statement that included a 17-second video of the operation.
The military said the boarding was part of a “global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate.”
Earlier this week, Navy SEALS boarded another ship in the Indian Ocean, the M/T Tifani, after the Pentagon said it was carrying oil from Iran.
Navy destroyers are also shadowing several other Iranian vessels, including the Dorena and Sevin, which had left from the Iranian port of Chabahar before the U.S.-imposed blockade began on April 13, a U.S. military official said. The Navy is directing those ships to return to an Iranian port, the official said.
With the M/T Tifani and M/T Majestic X now at least temporarily in the custody of the military, a U.S. military official said it was up to the White House to decide what to do with the sanctioned vessels and their cargo. The administration previously seized several tankers carrying illicit oil from Venezuela after a U.S. commando raid there in January that seized Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president.
“International waters cannot be used as a shield by sanctioned actors,” the Pentagon said in its statement on Thursday, adding that the department would “continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain.”
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hinted last week that the U.S. military would likely commence boarding operations like the ones this week. He said that U.S. military commanders elsewhere in the world, and especially in the Indo-Pacific region, would “actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran.”
The U.S. Navy has turned back at least 31 ships trying to enter or exit Iranian ports since an American blockade outside the contested Strait of Hormuz began about a week ago, U.S. Central Command said late Wednesday.
Last Sunday, a Navy destroyer disabled and seized the Touska, an Iranian cargo ship, after it tried to evade the blockade. It was the first time a vessel was reported to have tried to evade the U.S.-imposed blockade on any ship entering or exiting Iranian ports since it took effect last week.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained why President Donald Trump does not consider Iran’s seizure of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
Leavitt made the statement during an interview with Fox News’ Martha McCallum on Wednesday just hours after Iran captured the Greek and Mediterranean-flagged vessels.
“Does the seizure of two ships — as we said, they were Greek and Mediterranean-owned ships with cargo on them, and the reports are that Iran basically seized them and then moved them into Iranian waters. We don’t know what’s going to happen to these crews. We’re not sure where all of this is going. Does the president view that as a violation of the ceasefire?” McCallum asked.
“No, because these were not U.S. ships. These were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,” Leavitt responded.
US FORCES ATTEMPTING TO BOARD SANCTIONED RUSSIAN-FLAGGED OIL TANKER IN NORTH ATLANTIC, SOURCES SAY
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, conducts a press briefing. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“And for the American media, who are sort of blowing this out of proportion to discredit the president’s facts that he has completely obliterated Iran’s conventional Navy, these two ships were taken by speedy gunboats. Iran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don’t have control over the strait,” she continued.
“This is piracy that we are seeing on display. And the naval blockade that the United States has imposed continues to be incredibly effective. And, to be clear, the blockade is on ships going to and from Iranian ports. And the point of this is the economic leverage that we maintain over Iran now. While there’s a ceasefire with respect to the military and kinetic strikes, Operation Economic Fury continues, and the crux of that is this naval blockade,” she added.
The Iranian made ‘Seraj’ a high-speed missile-launching assault boat on display in Tehran on August 23, 2010, as Iran kicked off mass production of two high-speed missile-launching assault boats the ‘Seraj’ (Lamp) and ‘Zolfaqar’ (named after Shiite Imam Ali’s sword) speedboats which will be manufactured at the marine industries complex of the ministry of defense. (YALDA MOAIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the vessels, identified as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, were operating without proper authorization and had tampered with navigation systems, accusations that could not be independently verified. The ships had earlier reported coming under fire near the strait, underscoring the increasingly volatile conditions in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
US ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘CROWN JEWEL’ ‘IF WE WANT,’ TRUMP WARNS
The Guard attacked a third ship, identified as the Euphoria, which had become “stranded” on the Iranian coast, Iranian media reported. It did not seize that vessel.
Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Both the U.S. and Iranian sides have targeted commercial and cargo vessels as part of a broader pressure campaign tied to stalled negotiations. U.S. forces have also moved to seize at least one Iranian-linked vessel in the region, with each side accusing the other of violating the terms of a fragile ceasefire.
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The Strait of Hormuz is a vital artery for global oil shipments, with roughly 20% of the world’s supply passing through it. Traffic has slowed dramatically as ships reroute or avoid the area amid gunfire, seizures and conflicting directives from both militaries.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met privately with President Trump and administration officials Wednesday to press for federal support and yet-unpaid wildfire recovery funding as the region continues to rebuild from the 2025 fires.
“This afternoon we met with President Trump and Administration officials to advocate for families who lost everything,” Bass and Barger said in a statement. “We had a very positive discussion about FEMA and other rebuilding funds as well as the support of the President to continue joining us in pressuring the insurance companies to pay what they owe — and for the big banks to step up to ease the financial pressure on L.A. families.”
Barger said the two leaders had a “high-level discussion” with the president in the Oval Office, sharing stories about what fire survivors are experiencing day to day. She added that “we left details behind with the President,” but did not specify whether Trump made any funding or policy promises during the meeting.
“First and foremost, today’s meeting was to thank the President for his initial support of infusing federal resources to expedite debris removal, as well as his recent tweet about insurance companies, which have already proven fruitful,” she said in a statement provided to The Times.
Bass was similarly reserved about the discussions, telling reporters that “we will follow up with the details,” but signaled progress is being made on federal support.
“I think what’s important is that we certainly got the president’s support in terms of, you know, what is needed, and then the appropriate people were in the room for us to follow up. And that was Russ Vought, who is the head of the Office of Management and budget,” Bass told KNX on Wednesday.
The meeting comes on the heels of a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over wildfire recovery funding, disaster response and whether the federal government should have a say in local rebuilding permitting.
California leaders, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, have accused the Trump administration of withholding billions in critical wildfire aid, prompting a lawsuit over stalled recovery funds. Officials allege political bias in the delay of billions of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Newsom visited Washington in December. When he made his rounds on Capitol Hill, he met with five lawmakers, including three who serve on the Senate and House appropriations committees, to renew calls for $33.9 billion in federal aid for Los Angeles County fire recovery.
But the governor said he was denied a meeting with FEMA and would not say whether he had attempted to meet with Trump to discuss the issue.
Bass, meanwhile, appears to have found a path to the president on a subject that has been paramount for her community.
The fruitful meeting comes after Trump lobbed insults at the mayor at a news conference earlier this year, where he called her “incompetent” for how she handled last year’s wildfire recovery efforts. He alleged that under Bass’ leadership, the city’s delay in issuing local building permits will take years when it should have taken “two or three days.”
California officials, including Newsom, have urged the Trump administration to send Congress a formal request for the $33.9 billion in recovery aid needed to rebuild homes, schools, utilities and other critical infrastructure destroyed or damaged when the fires tore through neighborhoods more than 15 months ago.
What Bass and Barger’s meeting with the president ultimately produces remains to be seen.
The billions in recovery aid have not yet materialized, but the meeting could potentially give those discussions new momentum.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment about the meeting.
Earlier this month, Trump criticized insurance provider State Farm on Truth Social for its handling of the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires. He accused the insurance giant of abandoning its policyholders when tragedy struck.
“It was brought to my attention that the Insurance Companies, in particular, State Farm, have been absolutely horrible to people that have been paying them large Premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous Companies were not there to help!” Trump wrote.
But the rebuke didn’t come out of the blue. It stemmed from a controversial February visit to Los Angeles by Trump administration officials.
Trump tapped Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in an effort to strip California state and local governments of their authority to permit the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires.
Within the week, Zeldin was in Los Angeles, bashing Newsom and Los Angeles officials at a roundtable with fire victims and reporters, saying that residents were suffering from “bureaucratic, red tape delays and incompetency” and that leadership was “denying them … the ability to rebuild their lives”.
During the trip, officials heard direct complaints from local leaders and fire victims about insurers being slow, restrictive and insufficient with their claim payouts.
After these meetings, Trump directed Zeldin to investigate the insurers’ responses. State Farm, facing roughly $7 billion in fire-related claims, is also under formal investigation by California’s insurance commissioner over its handling of the crisis.
Despite tensions with the administration, Bass and Barger appeared confident that progress was being made on the insurance and funding issues.
“Our job is to fight for our communities,” their joint statement concluded. “When it comes to this recovery, our federal partners are essential, and we are grateful for the support of the President.”
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