Erika D. Smith, Columnist

Gavin Newsom Is Ready for the Biden Emergency

California's governor has fundraising chops, messaging skills and the campaign infrastructure to step up.

June 28, 2024 at 10:01 AM 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.

All eyes are on Gavin Newsom for a reason. Several, actually.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg

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When cameras captured California Governor Gavin Newsom walking into CNN’s spin room on Thursday evening, flashing his Hollywood smile before the presidential debate in Atlanta, a few political observers in his home state rushed to social media with some version of the same annoyed question.

“Why is he there?”