Newsom Would Turn the Nation Into Failing California

Townhall

CAGOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson

December 4, 2023

Gavin Newsom claims to have no interest in running for president, but you’d never guess that by his actions. Look no further than his recent trips across the globe to Israel and China, his regular appearances on cable news (and even stopping by a Republican presidential debate spin room), or his obsession with everything happening in rival red states. 

He may not be handing out yard signs and kissing babies, but without a doubt, he is running for president. 

He took California, the once Golden State, and turned it into a wasteland for radical, regressive policies. The last thing he deserves is to take his failures nationwide with a promotion to the White House. America can’t afford to turn into California.

There’s hardly a greater scorecard for a governor’s performance than the number of people choosing to make that leader’s state their home. And on this grading scale, Newsom is an abject failure. The California Exodus is not a “myth,” as Newsom likes to claim. Last year, 817,000 Californians fled our state, only a few short years after we lost a congressional seat in 2020 for the first time in state history. At this rate, we are expected to lose an additional five seats by the next reapportionment.

So why are so many Californians heading for the exit?

From the highest-in-the-nation gas prices to expensive groceries and housing, cost of living ranks high on reasons why people move away. Owning a home has become increasingly unobtainable, with recent data showing only 15 percent of California households could afford to become homeowners — the lowest home affordability rate since 2007. To combat the housing shortage, Newsom campaigned for governor on building 3.5 million new homes by 2025; spoiler alert: it’s not happening. He’s since moved the goal post, saying California will plan for 2.5 million new homes by 2030 – long after he’s left office, and it’s someone else’s problem. This was hardly his first broken promise.

When Gavin Newsom was first elected mayor of San Francisco, he decreed that he would “aggressively” make homelessness his administration’s No. 1 priority and announced a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. One need only look around San Francisco today to see that his plan was a massive failure. Flash forward 20 years, and as governor, he’s taken his incompetence on this issue statewide, spending over $20 billion only to see the homeless crisis continue to deteriorate. On his watch, California today accounts for 30 percent of the country’s homeless population and half of the nation’s unsheltered people. It’s no wonder homelessness continues to be a top concern for Californians…

Click here to read more.