Turns out that Gavin Newsom will campaign in 2024. But not for the presidency

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday the launch of a new political action committee aimed at fighting back against “rising authoritarianism” and boosting the campaigns of Democratic candidates in red states across the nation.

“We’re going to these states and investing in people and organizations that are fighting back,” Newsom said in a taped statement. “And we know we have a big battle coming, which is why we’ll help lead the fight to make sure we elect leaders in 2024 who believe in democracy.”

Newsom is seeding the new political fundraising group — called Campaign for Democracy — with $10 million from his gubernatorial campaign account. According to forms filed with the Federal Election Commission, Newsom’s former deputy chief of staff Lindsey Redding will serve as the organization’s treasurer and Sacramento-based political consultant Shawna Deane is named as the group’s agent.

Two hours after the organization’s launch was publicly announced on Thursday, Newsom tweeted that $100,000 had already been raised from “almost every state across the country.”

“Every dollar counts as we fight back against extreme Republicans who are putting their own power over your own freedom,” he wrote on Twitter.

Gavin Newsom’s new national political fundraising group

The PAC’s creation marks Newsom’s latest move to position himself as one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken adversaries of regressive Republican initiatives.

Over the course of the last year, the governor has aired ads in Florida and Texas attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott; he’s bought billboards in red states like Texas and Indiana touting California’s freedom of access to abortion, and he’s repeatedly criticized other party leaders for failing to compete in “messaging war” against Republicans dominating the national conversation.

The PAC’s mission is to “confront and defeat un-American authoritarianism,” Newsom said in Thursday’s video announcement, citing Republican leaders who are banning books, restricting medical care for trans children, and making it harder to vote and easier to buy guns. The organization will also help Newsom, who is seen as a future White House contender for Democrats, to elect candidates aligned with his views.

Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsom, said California’s Democratic governor will spend early next week traveling on behalf of Campaign for Democracy to meet with Democratic leaders, activists and students in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama — some of the states where freedoms are “most under attack.”

Placing national political ambitions over California issues?

The governor’s announcement quickly garnered criticism from Republicans who routinely blast Newsom for keeping his eye on national politics rather than focusing on critical issues in his home state.

“The last thing red states need is a lecture from Gavin Newsom on how to govern,” California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement, noting California’s high gas prices, multi-billion-dollar projected budget deficit and growing homeless crisis. “If only Newsom cared half as much about fixing problems in his own state as he does berating better-run red states.”

Newsom has previously declared that he has “sub-zero interest” in a 2024 presidential candidacy. In a gubernatorial debate last October, the governor pledged to serve his full second term, which ends in 2028.

Click on Thursday denied that the creation of the organization was any indication of Newsom’s pursuit of a higher office.

“This is all about going to where the fight for our future is,” Click said. “And that’s in these states where it’s not an academic question — freedom is under attack.”

Nevertheless, Newsom continues to work to raise his national profile, and this new “state-by-state organizing campaign” is no exception.