Gavin Newsom's 2028 presidential ambitions are about to get a self-imposed stress test after months of putting his political muscle behind one of the Democratic Party's more daring campaigns of 2025.
California voters are set decide on a Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would radically change how the Golden State's congressional boundaries are drawn.
Newsom is responsible for this rare off-cycle political campaign, setting it up as a heavyweight counterpunch to President Donald Trump, who has arm-twisted Republican-led legislatures from Texas to Indiana to Missouri to redo their own maps ahead of next year’s all-important midterms.
More: Newsom vs. Trump: What to know as California voters pick sides in a big political battle
Much more than Democrats potentially winning back control of the U.S. House of Representatives is at stake for the 58-year-old Newsom. The second-term governor has been busy this year trying to distinguish himself from other White House hopefuls with a media blitz and punchy-style online that has mimicked the MAGA leader while standing up against the Trump administration at almost every turn.
