Erika D. Smith, Columnist

Newsom Isn’t the Best ‘Affordability’ Messenger

November 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC

Erika D. Smith is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She is a former Los Angeles Times columnist and Sacramento Bee editorial board member.

Facing a tough sell.
Photographer: Mauro Pimentel/AFP

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California Governor Gavin Newsom got a hero’s welcome last week when he arrived in Brazil for COP30. Because President Donald Trump basically boycotted the United Nations Climate Summit, it was Newsom who ended up huddling with diplomats and executives, and getting mobbed by delegates, activists and adoring fans.

“We’re at peak influence,” Newsom boasted to reporters at one point. And indeed, he is — fresh off the success of Proposition 50, his anti-Trump redistricting ballot measure, and ahead in most polls of potential 2028 presidential candidates.