Why is California Gov. Gavin Newsom back campaigning in the Carolinas this weekend?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will campaign with North Carolina Democrats in Charlotte and Monroe this weekend, bringing one of the party’s most prominent national figures to the Charlotte region two months before the midterm election.
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Newsom is scheduled to start Saturday, Sept. 5, in Charlotte, where he will join volunteers knocking on doors for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper, state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and other Democratic candidates. The canvass runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and begins at the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party office on East Morehead Street, according to an event page hosted by the North Carolina coordinated campaign.
Later that afternoon, Newsom will travel to Monroe for a Labor Day weekend rally with North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton and other Democratic candidates and activists. The rally is scheduled for 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Union County Agricultural and Event Complex. Judicial candidate Toby Hampson, Braxton Winston of the North Carolina AFL-CIO and other candidates are also expected to attend.
Monroe Mayor Robert Burns, a Republican, seized on Newsom’s visit in a post on X, portraying the California governor’s appearance as evidence that Monroe, and North Carolina, have become politically important enough to draw national attention.
“Three years ago, nobody came to Monroe to politic. Now the Governor of California just flew 3,000 miles to stand in my town,” He wrote. “That doesn’t happen by accident.”
Burns then listed what he described as local successes, including lower crime and new investment, before turning the visit into a challenge to Democrats.
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“They see what’s happening in Monroe, and they’re paying attention for a reason,” Burns wrote. “Welcome to Monroe, Gavin. You and your party should be worried.”
The appearances are part of Newsom’s four-day “Take It Back” tour through Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Newsom plans to stop in more than 10 counties during the trip, with a focus on voting rights, congressional redistricting and civil rights, according to reports about the tour. His schedule also takes him through Lancaster County on Friday before the Charlotte and Monroe stops Saturday.
Organizers are advertising the canvass as an opportunity to elect Cooper, Earls and “Dems in Charlotte” by talking directly with voters. The Monroe appearance brings that effort into much more Republican territory.
Newsom visited Rock Hill earlier this year during a tour promoting his memoir, an appearance that also put him before South Carolina voters as speculation continued about whether he could seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
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