Newsom delivers final state-of-state as national ambitions loom
Newsom's final state-of-the-state address
While Newsom has not announced future plans, political analysts widely expect him to run for president in 2028.
Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his state-of-the-state address on Thursday at the state Capitol in Sacramento, marking the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the speech was given in person.
Big picture view:
This was Newsom’s final state-of-the-state address as governor.
He is term-limited and set to leave office at the end of this year.
While Newsom has not announced future plans, political analysts widely expect him to run for president in 2028.
"This is a speech that is being spoken not just to Californians — it has national resonance," said Hamline University political science professor David Schultz. "It's an important speech because he may be the first one out of the gate, so to speak, running for President of the United States. Can he start to connect with those critical voters in swing states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and start to articulate themes that are important to them?"
Local perspective:
Newsom spent much of his speech arguing that California must stand up to Republican President Donald Trump‘s "assault on our values," warning democracy is at stake in his final State of the State address Thursday.
It's clear Newsom is eyeing his legacy as he nears the end of eight years governing the nation’s most populous state. In his speech, he highlighted California’s work fighting homelessness and high health care costs. He pointed out the state has sued the Trump administration more than 50 times.
"The federal government, respectfully, it’s unrecognizable, protecting the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable," Newsom said to lawmakers at the state Capitol in Sacramento. "Their credo seems to be about fear — fear of the future, fear of the stranger, fear of change."
He chided the Trump administration’s "carnival of chaos on the national stage," and its efforts over the past year to withhold food aid from states, send the National Guard into Democratic-led cities, and cut funding for medical research.
California, by contrast, should be seen as a blueprint for the rest of the nation as it defends the state’s progressive policies against federal government overreach, Newsom said.
Over the years, Newsom has used the annual address to tout California’s economic growth and technological innovation and push back against critiques of its high cost of living and having the largest homeless population in the country. This year, he derided critics as suffering from "California Derangement Syndrome," a reference to Trump’s use of the term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to call out his political opponents.
In addition, Newsom celebrated the homicide rates being at their lowest in decades in Oakland and San Francisco. He cited the $267 million in funding the state sent to law enforcement agencies across the state in 2023 to help them fight retail and property crime. He touted the California Highway Patrol’s work to curb crime in Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Stockton and other cities.