Republicans made sure he received their own version of a Southern welcome.
Protesters appeared outside some of Newsom’s stops carrying signs reading “Wrong Coast” and “Clean Up Your State First.”
Dorchester County Republican Chairman CJ Westfall offered an even more pointed message.
“We don’t want Gavin Newsom to California our South Carolina,” Westfall said.
Newsom responded to some of the protesters with characteristic sarcasm, writing, “Thank you for the warm welcome!”
The exchange was lighthearted on the surface.
The political problem behind it is considerably more serious.
Newsom’s Rural California Numbers Tell a Story
A newly released California survey provides a glimpse at one of the challenges Newsom could confront if he pursues the White House.
The NBCUniversal Local and Telemundo Station Group survey found 45% of registered California voters approving of Newsom’s job performance and 46% disapproving.
The survey was conducted September 21-24.
The statewide numbers were essentially divided.
Rural Northern California was another story.
Only 28% of respondents in the largely rural northern portion of the state approved of Newsom’s performance, while 60% disapproved.
Political consultant Matt Rexroad argued that those numbers could reveal a broader difficulty for the California governor.
“This does not impact his Presidential campaign directly, but it does indicate that he does not know how to communicate with rural voters,” Rexroad said.
He then pointed toward the states where presidential hopefuls traditionally have to introduce themselves to voters face-to-face.
“The people of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina will not be impressed with a politician from California who wants to talk about being from 1) California 2) San Francisco and 3) now lives in Marin County.”
Newsom’s weakness wasn’t confined to rural voters.
The same survey found 56% of California independents disapproving of his performance.
Even among Democrats, his approval stood at 74% — strong compared with the electorate overall, but leaving roughly one-quarter of his own party’s respondents outside the approval column.
Those figures don’t tell Americans what would happen in a future presidential election.
They do show why Newsom’s record in California would almost certainly become a major national campaign issue.
California Would Follow Newsom Everywhere
Newsom has never exactly attempted to hide where he comes from.
He served as mayor of San Francisco before becoming California’s lieutenant governor and eventually governor.
His supporters can point to the enormous economic power of California, its technology industry and Newsom’s willingness to confront Republicans directly on national television.
Newsom himself has acknowledged that his state can be a political liability while arguing that critics have distorted California’s record.
He has described some of the attacks as “California Derangement Syndrome.”
Republicans clearly intend to test that defense.
California’s housing costs, homelessness, taxes, energy policies and progressive social agenda give GOP campaigns a long list of subjects to put before voters outside the state.
Newsom would undoubtedly counter with California’s economic scale and his own attacks on Republican governance.
That clash was already visible in South Carolina.
Republicans Have Already Found Their Message
What happened outside Newsom’s South Carolina appearances may offer an early preview of the argument Republicans would use against him nationally.
They wouldn’t necessarily need a complicated message.
They could simply ask voters whether they want California’s political model brought to their own states.
The “Wrong Coast” signs captured that argument in two words.
For Newsom, the challenge would be persuading Americans to separate the caricature of California promoted by Republicans from the record he wants voters to examine.
His critics, meanwhile, will try to make that separation impossible.
And Newsom already has one particularly famous episode opponents could resurrect.
In November 2020, Newsom attended a dinner at the upscale French Laundry restaurant while Californians were living under pandemic restrictions.
Newsom later apologized, saying he had made a “bad mistake.”
Years later, the episode remains ready-made material for any opponent trying to portray California’s political leadership as operating under different rules from ordinary citizens.
South Carolina Offered an Early Warning
None of this means Newsom has formally secured a place on a future presidential ballot.
It does mean his trips around the country are attracting the scrutiny normally reserved for politicians with national ambitions.
South Carolina demonstrated what that scrutiny could look like.
Newsom arrived as a nationally recognized Democratic governor trying to help his party.
Republican protesters answered by making the conversation about California.
That may be the central political test awaiting Newsom outside his home state.
He can travel thousands of miles from Sacramento.
His record as California governor will travel with him.
