SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gavin Newsom hasn’t voted in two years — and even then, his reelection campaign as governor was an afterthought.
But the California Democrat has quickly built one of the country’s most important digital operations, offloading nearly $21.5 million to candidates and charities in the 2024 campaign, according to election cycle totals first reported by POLITICO have been published.
Newsom raised more than $15.7 million for Democrats in the presidential race, with money flowing to the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and a leading super PAC. Newsom did this through a mix of digital solicitations through his own lists and in-person fundraising events he hosted for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
Since briefly fighting for his political survival in 2021, Newsom has become one of his party’s most prolific digital fundraisers for other candidates. He has been embroiled in major battles and has exponentially expanded his list of donor email addresses and phone numbers — prized assets for communicating directly with small-dollar supporters as he expanded his profile far beyond California.
There are few comparisons in fundraising — especially since Newsom built his operation without running for president, tapping into his own wealth or running a competitive campaign of his own. POLITICO reported that Transportation Secretary and 2020 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, who was vying for a foreign policy role in a Harris administration, has raised more than $15.3 million for the Harris Victory Fund.
Newsom’s own political activities have long been viewed through the prism of the presidential campaign, and have led to continued speculation about what he might do after leaving office in two years. In addition to his digital outfit and super PAC, Campaign for Democracy, he maintains close relationships with many of his state’s major donors, has been a top surrogate for Biden and has gone out on a limb for Harris. But her ascent to the White House would block his own path to a likely presidential campaign.
Newsom’s status as a rainman among Democrats began organically, when he faced a recall effort that initially seemed like a gamble but grew more serious and then diminished as a threat. Newsom had brought in digital operative Tim Tagaris, who backed Bernie Sanders’ groundbreaking fundraising operations in 2016 and then helped the California governor grow the number of email addresses he had from 250,000 before the recall and 6 million by the end of 2022 to more. than 17 million addresses today.
All figures, then and now, were first reported by POLITICO.
