It was a big year for California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender launched a podcast, emerged as one of the most prominent opponents of President Donald Trump and led the fight from the left on redistricting, countering Republican efforts to gain an advantage ahead of next year’s midterms.
And in a more under-the-radar fashion, Newsom oversaw a deep portfolio of legislation this year that could form the basis of a future national platform.
Across 2025, Newsom signed 794 bills he received from California’s Democratic-dominated Legislature into law, while vetoing another 123. While Newsom particularly championed the measure that led to a redrawing of the state’s congressional map, the vast majority of these pieces of legislation did not grab national attention. But this stack of more than 900 bills helps to illustrate how he’s sought to make appeals to various factions of the Democratic Party — both in his state and across the country.
He attempted to tackle his state’s housing crisis, enacted measures designed to lower prices, including on energy and prescription drugs, and implemented immigrant protections — moves that were praised by progressives. He also scaled back health care coverage for undocumented immigrants, boosted fossil fuel production and pushed for the dismantling of homeless encampments — moves that were viewed as shifts to the center.
“Yes, it’s threading the needle. But it’s also that he swings at every pitch,” explained Ted Lempert, a former Democratic Assemblyman in California who now teaches political science at the University of California-Berkeley. “And when you do that, yes there’s potential to strike out, which he’s not. For him, it’s about making contact. It’s about doing a little bit in a whole lot of different areas.”
“Part of what you’re seeing in his governorship is — unlike some other governors and presidents, where they focus on one or two main issues — he’s jumped around a lot,” Lempert added. “And a lot of it is not necessarily ideological.”
Democratic strategists and advocacy groups have largely lauded Newsom’s 2025 legislative record as he’s sought to straddle the divide between his party’s progressive and centrist wings. But they also said there could be risk for Newsom in not attempting to carve out a more narrow lane or identity ahead of what’s expected to be a wide-open 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
Still, the flurry of legislative activity could serve as a differentiating factor for Newsom. Prospective White House contenders who are Democratic governors in battleground or red states have been forced to deal with split governments, slowing the pace of legislation. Those who currently serve in Congress or are out of office have little to no recent legislative record to point to.
Other blue-state governors who are seen as harboring presidential ambitions, such as JB Pritzker of Illinois and Wes Moore of Maryland, could also point to a robust list of legislative accomplishments.
But Newsom in particular, as the leader of the biggest blue state in the country, has largely sought to wield that power to make inroads across the party, which continues to search for identity following a bruising 2024 loss.
“He has always been skilled at the give and take,” said Marva Diaz, a Sacramento-based Democratic strategist and the publisher of the nonpartisan election guide California Target Book. “He has taken things away from the left that they care about and given them something else.”
Focusing on housing and affordability
While splashy, progressive policies related to expanding the social safety net and protecting the environment dominated the earlier years of Newsom’s tenure, housing and affordability have been at the forefront in 2025.
He signed major bills that streamline housing development regulation — part of a broader push to tackle the state’s alarming housing shortage — including allowing taller and denser buildings to be built near transit stations and allowing developers to skip over stringent environmental reviews. Other laws make it easier for homeowners to rent out parts of their home to new tenants and penalize so-called “slow-growth” cities in the state.
Affordability has also been a major theme in 2025. Newsom signed bills enacting $60 billion in refunds for electricity bills, expanding existing affordable child care (including free summer school programs) and paid family leave for many more Californians. He also took actions to keep on track his earlier enacted plans to create free universal preschool for 4-year olds. He kept his foot on the gas on lowering pharmaceutical drug prices. Most notably, he added insulin and naloxone to the landmark program, CalRx, he created during his first term allowing the state to sell pharmaceuticals directly to patients.
And on top of all that, Newsom signed bills implementing protections for immigrants being targeted by federal enforcement agencies.
Democrats across the party have praised these legislative wins. Many painted them as part of the party’s mostly sustained focus on affordability issues throughout the year — an approach that paid off with a slate of victories around the country in November.
“We’ve seen a continued trend this year of blue states, including with Gov. Newsom and his legislative majority, delivering more on responsive policies that are really about more immediate needs of constituents,” said Mandara Meyers, the executive director of The States Project, a Democratic-aligned group that works to build the party’s power in state legislatures “That is the opportunity — for him and for others: How do you do the incredibly popular things that are also deeply salient and really resonate with what people are feeling and experiencing right now.”
Meanwhile, Newsom’s 123 vetoes paint a few patterns, as well. According to an analysis by CalMatters, his veto messages most frequently cited as reasons behind his actions: fiscal restraint, redundancy and blaming Trump for having created a hostile political and economic environment for certain policies.
A shift to the center on hot-button issues
If Newsom’s earlier years as governor were about expanding the social safety net and setting lofty goals on health care and the environment, his 2025 session has been more about acknowledging their limits.
Most notable in this basket was his state budget move to scale back health care benefits for undocumented immigrants. Newsom painted the action — a stark reversal of his earlier promises of universal health care for all, regardless of their immigration status — as necessary to help balance California’s overextended budget. (Newsom’s earlier expansion of the state Medicaid system, called Medi-Cal, has cost far more than his administration anticipated; though his action also came as congressional Republicans advanced a bill to slash Medicaid funding for states.)
In addition, as part of his broader housing agenda, Newsom took significant actions to push cities and localities to clear homeless encampments.
On the energy front, Newsom signed bills that helped boost in-state oil production, mostly by streamlining drilling permit processes. While the move — intended to help fight high gas prices — does not come at the expense of the state continuing to meet Newsom’s own ambitious climate and emissions goals, it was nonetheless a major shift in policy, and was roundly criticized by environmental groups. He also stopped plans to decommission a nuclear plant and some gas plants, citing the possibility of power shortages in the energy-hungry state if they went offline, which also angered many progressives and environmental groups.
Throughout his two terms as governor, Newsom has also regularly fought off efforts to raise taxes on California’s most wealthy residents. That most recently included his opposition to a so-called “billionaire tax” — a move championed by many progressive groups. Supporters of that policy have since pivoted to put it directly to voters in a ballot measure in November 2026.
“When it comes to some of the policy priorities this year, it’s a bit of a mixed bag,” said Ida Eskamani, a senior director on economic issues at the State Innovation Exchange, a progressive state legislative policy group. “Like, what is the model you seek for the country that will inspire folks to want to be engaged in the government and in the governing process?”
She praised Newsom over his insulin move and the “innovation” of CalRx but also called his health care rollback "Trump lite.”
“Clearly he’s trying to walk a fine line policy-wise. And inherently the contradictions are showing,” Eskamani said. “You have to just be really steadfast about your values and who you’re fighting for,” she continued, because during a primary campaign, “folks are going to ultimately ask, ‘What do you stand for and whose side are you on?’”
'The Gavin brand'
Newsom has painted his legislative record as part of a “pragmatic” approach needed to solve major financial problems in his state. But he has also suggested it’s the sort of framework that could help form a “big tent” Democratic Party.
“I want it to be the Manchin to Mamdani party,” Newsom said in an interview with Politico published last month, referring to former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat-turned-independent, and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist.
Newsom, through a spokesperson, declined to provide comment for this article.
In remarks Newsom has delivered after enacting various laws that don’t clearly align with progressive values, he has often talked about the importance of working toward practical goals over ideological ones.
“This is not an ideological endeavor. We’re in the practical application business. We’ve got to manifest our ideals and our goals, and so this lays it out, but it lays it out without laying tracks over folks,” Newsom said in September at an event to sign the bill that boosted oil production.
When it came to scaling back health care for undocumented immigrants, he painted his move as a “corrective action” to “level set on what we can do and what we can’t do.”
Newsom has also said Democrats must be “more culturally normal” and has split with progressives by opposing trans athletes competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
Newsom’s broader approach has earned pushback from some progressives who say they are tired of compromising with those to their right politically.
“Who is he being pragmatic towards?” Eskamani asked. “The legislative and elected leaders in our network don’t talk about what they can’t do. They talk about what we can build together. And that is what the public wants. They want leaders who are going to fight to make things better, not leaders who are going to compromise because it’s too hard or who are trying to be pragmatic.”
But those who have followed his decadeslong career in California say Newsom has long prioritized personality over ideology.
“His persona is not, and has never been, I am this hardcore insert-brand-here kind of politician,” Lempert said. “He’s hard to pin down. He’s doing a lot of different things. At the same time, he’s not out there saying, ‘I’m a conservative Democrat,’ or ‘I’m a progressive Democrat.’ It’s just sort of the Gavin brand.”
