I somehow ended up on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s email distribution list, and each new alert tends to produce the same reaction: a wince. So when Saturday’s notice landed, it felt less like breaking news than confirmation of a familiar pattern:
Newsom, once again, is out of California. That tracks. The governor has made clear, through repeated trips and media appearances, that he seems far more energized by sparring with Republican-led states and their governors than by tackling the problems piling up at home. California drivers are still paying punishing gas prices, affordability remains a crisis, and yet Newsom appears increasingly focused on national exposure — and, many suspect, a future presidential run — despite a record that critics say should give voters serious pause.
This time, the stated purpose is political. Newsom is in Michigan to campaign for Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections and to meet with Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Senate candidate who has become a rising favorite among the progressive left.
That will surely be a comfort to young Californians staring at a housing market that has placed homeownership far out of reach.
Try to contain your shock: Gavin Newsom is on another taxpayer-funded trip outside California to campaign for president — and to spend time with Abdul El-Sayed. https://t.co/wX0TCfgvfO
— MCRP (@MCGOP_CA) August 8, 2026
El-Sayed’s rapid rise on the national stage has also made him a lightning rod. To his supporters, he represents the future of progressive politics. To his critics, he is among the most radical left-wing figures to gain this level of prominence in recent American campaigns. None of that appears to trouble Newsom, who has praised El-Sayed as someone who “gets it.”
What exactly does he “get”? Conservatives have pointed to concerns about antisemitism, Marxist politics, and rhetoric they view as sympathetic to terrorists. For Newsom’s detractors, the embrace only reinforces the image of a governor more interested in national left-wing politics than in the state he was elected to lead.
Gavin Newsom has confirmed he will meet with radical Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed as he campaigns with Democrats in the battleground state of Michigan.
During a C-SPAN broadcast, a reporter asked the governor Sunday whether he intends to meet with El-Sayed, to which Newsom confirmed, “I’ll be meeting with him tomorrow.”
He continued: “The Senate is in play, and it will go through this state. Getting behind him is going to be important. That’s going to require not just the party here, but support outside of Michigan.”
Gavin Newsom says he plans to meet Abdul-El Sayed I person tomorrow — and said building support for AES “from outside Michigan” is necessary to win. pic.twitter.com/DZvPaITVRQ
— Tyler Scott (@T_Scotttttt) August 9, 2026
