California Gov. Gavin Newsom is listed as a top contender for 2028. But will he run?

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NEWSOM MAKES POLITICO’S LIST OF TOP 2028 CONTENDERS

As 2023 comes to a close, Politico took a look at how the potential 2028 presidential contenders shook out over the last year. Unsurprisingly, California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who has spent the year furiously campaigning on behalf of President Joe Biden — earned a nod.

There was Newsom’s tangle with Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (on DeSantis’ home turf of Fox News, no less). And then Politico noted that Newsom has built a fundraising juggernaut of a political action committee, the Campaign for Democracy, that is dedicated to winning blue seats in red states.

Newsom shared column inches with another big blue state governor, billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Pritzker, like Newsom, has launched a PAC aimed at fighting for liberal causes, such as reproductive freedom, in several states, including Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin, according to Politico.

Still, it wasn’t all roses for Newsom. His long-time Bay Area frenemy, Vice President Kamala Harris, also earned a nod in the Politico write-up, with the magazine calling out her battle with the Florida Board of Education over its decision to soften the depiction of slavery in its textbooks by claiming that enslaved people learned valuable work skills on the job.

“They want to replace history with lies,” Harris said, according to Politico. “(Slavery) involved rape. It involved torture. It involved taking a baby from their mother.”

As Politico noted, Newsom has seemed to prematurely cede the field to Harris, telling “Meet the Press” in September that a race between Newsom and Harris for the presidency “won’t happen.”

“But his quasi-Shermanesque statement leaves Newsom with two unpalatable options for running in 2028: Break his word, or cajole Harris out of the race,” the Politico piece said.

NEWSOM REJECTS CALL TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM THE BALLOT

While Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis would like to see former President Donald Trump removed from the 2024 California primary ballot for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Newsom isn’t a fan of that approach.

In a statement, first reported by Politico, Newsom said that while there is no doubt that Trump is a threat to American liberties and democracy, “in California, we defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction.”

Trump stands accused of attempting to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election in order to win reelection.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber has until Thursday to deliver the certified list of candidates for the March 5, 2024, primary ballot.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Absolutely the truth. The hyperloop was never a thing. It was designed to undermine support not just for high speed rail but for public transit generally. Let’s be clear: High quality, reliable, safe public transit makes life better. That’s why we’re working so hard to improve it. The U.S. is behind on transit, including rail, but we can make progress with political will. Transit has been, is & always will be a top priority for me. We’re particularly focused on it for 2024.”

- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Threads.

Best of The Bee:

▪ California lawmakers next year face huge political and financial challenges as they seriously consider reparations for Black descendants of slaves, via Lindsey Holden.

▪ Khydeeja Alam, who has worked for years at various Sacramento-based state and advocacy organizations, has been appointed as the executive director of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, via Emma Hall.