Gavin Newsom New Hampshire book tour stop fuels 2028 presidential speculation

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s book tour will take him early next month to New Hampshire, the state that traditionally hosts the nation’s first presidential primary in a century.

The Portsmouth Music Hall announced Thursday that the two-term Democratic governor of California will present his new book, “Young Man in a Hurry,” on Thursday, March 5, at its theater.

It’s a safe bet that the stop along the New Hampshire coast will generate more buzz about Newsom’s national ambitions and the likelihood that he will launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, in the race to succeed term-limited President Donald Trump.

Newsom’s stature within his own party has soared over the past year, thanks to his highly vocal and visual backlash against the president, including his viral campaign against Trump on social media and his successful campaign in California to counter the Republican congressional redistricting effort.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at a California Democratic Party office, Tuesday, November 4, 2025, in Sacramento, California. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)

“Newsom has shown the ability to boldly and very effectively stand up to Trump without turning away from core democratic values,” veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital.

Newsom was treated like a VIP as he held meetings and mingled with party delegates on the opening day of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) winter meeting, held in Los Angeles in December. And Newsom held meetings with the Democratic Party chairmen of New Hampshire and Nevada, another crucial state for early voting.

“We had a great discussion on a wide range of issues,” Ray Buckley, longtime chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told Fox News Digital.

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Newsom has acknowledged that he is mulling a presidential run, telling CBS News last year that he would “seriously consider it” after the 2026 midterm elections and that he would “be lying” if he said otherwise.

Newsom is among a dozen Democrats considered potential contenders for the White House in 2028. And many of them have visited New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, which held the first sanctioned Democratic presidential primary in the 2024 election cycle. Newsom stopped in South Carolina last summer.

A New Hampshire-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely said he and other activists in the state have been receiving regular fundraising emails for months from some of the White House candidates.

“Every week I get a dozen,” the strategist said.

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Kathy Sullivan, former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and former DNC committee member, told Fox News Digital that “successful candidates in New Hampshire start early here and get to know the activists. They find out what issues are important to the people of New Hampshire.”

Sullivan said early trips to New Hampshire by potential candidates “show that they are doing the work necessary to take the whole process seriously and know they have to work hard to win the primary.”

The California governor last visited New Hampshire in July 2024, to support then-President Joe Biden in the days following Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump. Newsom was a top surrogate for Biden, and later for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the party’s standard-bearer after Biden abandoned re-election amid questions about his physical and mental durability.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a top surrogate for then-President Joe Biden, speaks with voters during a stop at a highway rest area in Hooksett, New Hampshire, July 8, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Harris, a fellow Californian who is also currently on a book tour, is also mulling a possible 2028 presidential bid.

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Other Democrats seen as possible presidential candidates include governors. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Wes Moore of Maryland and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; progressive superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another prominent progressive; and two moderate Democrats, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House chief of staff and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.