By admin 
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Read our AI Policy.
- Gavin Newsom said he will decide by early January on a 2028 presidential bid.
- Newsom tied it to family, Harris and the midterm election outcome.
- Newsom holds a $14.2 million war chest, topping other potential 2028 rivals.
Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom told a Turkish news outlet that he will decide whether to run for president in 2028 by early January, when he steps down from office.
Read more Professors urge CSU system to use AI for admin work instead of instruction
“I’ll make the determination at the beginning of the year, so we’ll spend the next few weeks with the family and make a decision early January,” he told the state-run Anadolu Agency in Antalya, where he is attending the COP31 climate summit.
Jim Messina, former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, told Fox News last week that the first Democratic 2028 primary debate will be held on April 1, 2027, giving Newsom a few months’ lead time to launch a presidential campaign.
Newsom previously said he would run for president if his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and four children approved. He also said he would not run if former Vice President Kamala Harris jumped in the race because the overlap of their donor network and similar support base would split voters and advantage other Democrats.
Harris has not said anything publicly about her future ambitions but recently beefed up her staff.
Has $14.2 million banked
Newsom also said his decision would depend on the outcome of last week’s midterm elections after his successful redistricting initiative helped California Democrats gain five congressional seats. Democrats saw historic wins at both the statewide and national level as voters have soured on President Donald Trump and the Republican Party due to soaring prices and the war in Iran.
On Thursday, he called the war a “colossal mistake” in an exchange with Iranian filmmaker Hossein Shamaghdari.
Read more California lawmakers call for release of Lodi nurse and professor detained by ICE
While Newsom has remained coy about his aspirations for higher office, he has taken a number of steps in recent months that suggest he is preparing a run. Earlier this year, he published a memoir about his early career in politics and business, after launching a podcast that has made national headlines.
He maintains the largest independent expenditure war chest of the potential 2028 candidates, banking $14.2 million as of October. That surpassed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, according to a tracker maintained by Democratic political strategist Jesse Lehrich.
Newsom has also extensively traveled to stump for other Democrats in battleground states like Michigan, New Hampshire and Nevada, the latter of which will be early Democratic primary states in 2028. He has also traveled twice to southern states such as South Carolina, which will host the first DNC primary in 2028 and which has a high concentration of faithful Black Democratic voters.
He also recently dined with President Joe Biden and his son Hunter at V’s Restaurant in Malibu.
Newsom told the historian Timothy Snyder on an episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom” earlier this week that he was planning to travel to Poland soon.
Read more Eric Jones unseats Rep. Mike Thompson for Northern California congressional seat
Details of that trip were not yet publicly available.
This story was originally published November 13, 2026 at 10:28 AM.