LOS ANGELES — Gavin Newsom is trolling his way into the collective hearts of the Democratic Party’s most influential activists.
As the Democratic National Committee opened its winter meeting here, a throng of delegates jockeyed for selfies with the California governor for more than half an hour before his aides pulled him away for meetings — the crowds surrounding him growing so large at various points that Newsom resorted to group pictures.
It was a parlaying of Newsom’s bombastic social media posture into an in-real-life commotion at the DNC — coming in his own backyard, where questions have swirled about whether his decidedly West Coast affect will translate to a broader audience. And it was the newest sign of the likely 2028 presidential contender’s influence in the party, according to interviews with more than 20 DNC members on Thursday.
“I loooove the trolling that they’re doing,” said Pamela Castellana, a vice-chair of the Florida Democratic Party, crediting the governor and his social media team for his X presence, which transformed this year from a standard-issue politician’s account to performance art-esque mimicry of President Donald Trump. “I don’t think that it’s necessarily going to get them elected, but it really is encouraging people. They have something to fight back with.”
The affinity goes beyond the mean tweets, reflected in polling putting Newsom at or near the top of early surveys of the 2028 presidential primary field. Newsom earned goodwill with national Democrats with his gutsy ballot redistricting measure, which bolstered the party’s chances to win back the House in next year’s midterms. In Los Angeles, Newsom met privately with Ken Martin, the DNC chair, as well as the party chairs from the early-voting states of Nevada and New Hampshire, according to a person familiar with the meetings and granted anonymity to describe them.
And while there was lingering skepticism in the crowd about Newsom’s durability in 2028, especially in a general election — because it’s so long from now, because he comes from the liberal bastion of California, because there are other contenders, too — the spectacle of his drop-in appearance injected an aura of celebrity into an otherwise-staid opening day, where other potential 2028 hopefuls had a minimal footprint.
As Newsom rambled down a seventh-floor hallway of a downtown Los Angeles hotel’s labyrinthine event space, delegates from Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Georgia, Colorado, Mississippi, Utah, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania all surrounded him.
Kimberly Metcalfe, a former national committee member from Alaska, recognized Newsom in the middle of the scrum and pushed forward. “Oh, I want to get a photo,” she said.
“He’s definitely come into focus a lot more this year,” Metcalfe said. “I just have a whole different perception of him. I knew he was governor of California. He’s a good-looking guy.”
She laughed.
“But he’s really separated himself from the crowd by what he’s doing to take on Trump,” she said. “We needed that. The humor is great.”
Sophia Danenberg, a DNC member from Washington, said Newsom was a frequent topic on her politically-focused Signal chats. She credited the governor for his hallway accessibility for rank-and-file members.
“I think it really says something in terms of wanting to engage with people one-on-one and close up and not just give the big speech,” she said.
Newsom’s purposeful choice to arrive Thursday, one day before the confab’s general session, meant he had few competitors for delegates’ attention. And publicly, at least, the 2028 primary was just subtext. Speaking to reporters, Newsom played coy about his wooing of influential party powerbrokers.
“They’re in California,” Newsom said. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t say hello.”
Newsom also met with a delegation from Missouri, where opponents to Republicans’ mid-decade gerrymander at the behest of Trump have submitted signatures for a referendum that would delay those new congressional maps from taking effect. He later raised the prospect of using his lucrative grassroots email list to raise money for the effort.
California’s redistricting fight has been unexpected rocket fuel for Newsom’s national presence. As the first Democrat to embrace partisan gerrymandering in retribution for the Trump-driven redistricting in red states, Newsom got credit from party activists for tapping into their desire for someone on their side to show a fighting spirit.
“We know that Prop 50 will be transformational across the U.S.,” said Michelle Chambers, a DNC member from Indiana and Fort Wayne city councilmember. “To meet the ‘warrior of right’ in person, it was very refreshing. It was empowering he took the time to come to the DNC.”
Still, many members stopped short of declaring that Newsom had locked down their support for the next presidential race, cautioning that 2028 was a long way away.
“There’s a lot of chatter about different candidates, but honestly, my guess is we haven’t seen the candidate yet,” said Susan Merrill, the vice chair of the Utah Democratic Party. “I think it’s someone that isn’t on the radar.”
For some, Newsom’s breakout year may not be enough to overcome a key vulnerability — the skepticism that a Democrat from California, a frequent punching bag for the right, could win a general election.
Dennis Olson, a national committeeman from South Dakota, was certain that Newsom’s home state would be an albatross Republicans would hang around his neck.
“It will be, I guarantee you. Because it’ll be ‘the liberals out there,’” said Olson, channeling what he expects the GOP would fixate on. “So while I like to see the social media he’s doing, there are other people saying, well, [California] will be easily attacked.”
Some of the more tempered assessments came from fellow Californians, for whom Newsom is no longer a novelty. David Atkins, the vice chair of the Santa Barbara County party, said he saw the governor as a “mixed bag.” But he was more complimentary about Newsom’s star turn on social media.
“His ability to troll the president and to demonstrate what Trump’s language would sound like coming out of anyone else has been highly effective at doing its job and getting under the skin,” Atkins said. “What that means for the 2028 contest, that’s a whole other story. But that much, at least, has been a shot in the arm for the party.”
