I & I Editorial BoardThere are two things you can be sure of when it comes to Gavin Newsom. One is that he craves power. Two, he hates his fellow Californians.
OK, the second one might be a stretch. But considering what he’s done to the people of his home state, that’s a fairly reasonable conclusion to draw.
Newsom has been making headlines these days by “getting tough” with President Donald Trump in ways childish (X with posts written in all caps) and politically poisonous (promising to redraw district boundaries to kill off four or five of the state’s nine Republican seats).
With that latter move, Newsom once again shows his disdain for Californians, who voted twice – in 2008 and again in 2010 – against gerrymandering of this kind, appointing a bipartisan commission to draw district lines that are fair and equitable. Polls show most California voters oppose Newsom’s scheme to bypass this commission, but Newsom clearly hopes to bypass voters with an (expensive) special election that will attract mainly hard-core partisans.
But this is hardly the worst of Newsom’s offenses against the people he governs.
Since Newsom took the helm in 2019 and spent the next six years grooming himself for the presidency, the people of California have suffered.
Some examples:
Homelessness: In his inaugural address in 2019, Newsom declared that “We will launch a Marshall Plan for affordable housing and lift up the fight against homelessness from a local matter to a state-wide mission.” He launched his Marshall Plan, and spent $37 billion on it, only to see the number of homeless climb from 151,000 in 2019 to about 187,000 today.
Unemployment: There were more than 841,000 Californians collecting unemployment when Newsom took office. Today, there are more than 1 million. And at 5.5%, the unemployment rate is the highest of any state in the nation. When Newsom took office, the state had the 12th highest unemployment rate.
Real income: Since January 2019, the inflation-adjusted median household income has dropped from $92,330 down to $89,870.
Poverty: Despite years of economic growth nationwide, California’s poverty rate shot up to 18.9% in 2023, which is higher than it was in 2019, according to the California Budget & Policy Center.
Utilities: Newsom recently blamed Trump for a 10% increase in electricity prices since January. But electricity bills have been surging in California ever since Newsom took office, and are now 80% higher than the national average, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Only Hawaii has higher electricity rates.
Housing affordability: Earlier this year, CBS Los Angeles reported that the state’s “affordability crisis is getting worse.” In the lowest-income counties, a person making $52,600 now qualifies for California’s low-income housing programs. That’s up from $36,300 in 2019. “In some California counties, even a six-figure salary qualifies for low-income housing programs,” CBS Los Angeles said.
Population: On Newsom’s watch, California has seen a net migration of more than 1 million people out of the state. The only reason the state’s overall population has remained relatively steady has been the massive influx of foreigners – legal and illegal.
Fiscal crisis: Thanks to Newsom’s mismanagement and profligate spending, California went from a record surplus in 2022 to chronic budget shortfalls in two years. Total state spending (which includes money the state gets from the federal government) shot up from $300 billion in 2019 to $494 billion in 2024 – a 65% increase – according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. The budget Newsom signed this summer had to use various gimmicks to paper over a $12 billion budget shortfall. Meanwhile, the state spent close to $10 billion providing health care to illegal immigrants and is now spending time and energy stopping their deportation.
On top of all this are the vast amounts of taxpayer money Newsom has wasted on water reservoirs that never got built, land management that never happened (which led to massive wildfire destruction this year), and a bullet train that has gone nowhere. Then there was the huge minimum wage increase that has thrown more people out of work (some 18,000 fast food workers have lost their jobs since the $20 wage went into effect), and stifling regulations and taxes that have caused businesses to flee (more than 300 have moved out of the state on Newsom’s watch).
But there is even worse to come.
Newsom spent years attacking oil companies to appease climate alarmists. As Politico noted:
He announced a ban on fracking in 2021 and signed a law that restricts oil drilling near sensitive sites like schools and hospitals. He also spearheaded a lawsuit to hold major oil companies liable for climate change damages and legislation to consider a cap on oil industry profits, while castigating the industry as a corrupt force fleecing Californians.
Now, California drivers face the possibility of gas prices topping $8 a gallon as two oil refineries in the state plan to shut down, and Newsom is scrambling to figure out how to undo the damage he’s caused.
The only thing more astounding than Newsom’s disastrous tenure as governor is the fact that more than half of adults in the state approve of the job he’s been doing, and that he’s a serious contender among Democrats to run for president.
Californians might be gluttons for punishment, but is the rest of the country?
— Written by the I&I Editorial Board
Editor’s note: At the suggestion of a reader, we updated the chart above so that all of the scales start at zero.
John Merline
You have to give Newsom credit. He managed to vaporize several billion with a “B” dollars supposedly routed to the homeless in his state. Last I heard, just about all the money is gone, there are more homeless (“unhoused”) now than ever before, and no one seems to know where all the money went. Gavin seems clueless when asked about it. Something similar is the story behind the sometimes-built fast rail system that is waaaay over budget and past due. Besides the many small and medium-sized businesses that have moved out of California, many more have just gone out of business, full stop. Because of the stupid minimum wage law in their state that has accomplished the exact opposite of what was intended. Not to mention outrageous prices for any and all energy. And several insurance companies refuse to do any business with the state of California. Many Cali residents have moved to either Florida or Texas and are glad they did.
King Gavin’s “gavinmander” is a $200M+ ego trip to promote his image among national Dems in a state with a $12B+ deficit budget. Redistricting is just the vehicle. The reality is that is that he is an incompetent waste of human flesh. The only thing he is good at, like many politicians, is passing gas.
Passing gas? No, he is good at shutting down gas refineries and raising the price of gasoline.
And he is the best the Democrat party has to offer?
When I read people supporting Newsom’s childish actions, their comments never ask, what will be his policies that will help them! How will he make America better in any way? Half (at least) of the Democrat party have full blown TDS. Ridiculous posturing, near crying emotional outbursts, silly dance moves, half truths and outright lies are all part of the Newsom Kabuki dance! Comments like “I love him because he’s fighting Trump!” pretty much sum up his support, adults with the emotional age of rebellious teenagers.
And Californians keep voting against themselves, election after election. And, yes, TDS is rampant in the once golden state. For the coastal cities, it’s also RDS (R=Republican).
I love the information presented and it is, to me, a fair indication of what is wrong with my old home state. While I’m not a statistician, I do know how statistics can be misleading. In the middle row of the graphs the Y-axes do not start at zero, so the bar graphs are showing only the tops of the actual graphs, which is a common way to mislead with statistics. The change over 6 years, while significant, is actually less dramatic than it shows in the chart. Fix that and I’m all in!
Hi Jeff, you make a fair point, and we updated the charts so the scales all start at zero.
With such bad judgement, inept leadership, so many unwise decisions and with Newsom’s belief in utter nonsense, what does he offer voters for a national election?
Well, every voter should be aware because this is the same scenario when too many people fell for his bad judgement, inept leadership and unwise decisions from another very shallow slick man and voted for Obama.
Let us not repeat that mistake!
By any rational standard Newsom’s reign as governor has been a disaster for the inhabitants of his state.
He already has his canned answer for rising prices: corporate greed.