In a bombshell admission during the 2026 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals in Austin on Sunday, March 15, California Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped a Texas-sized gauntlet: If the Democratic Party can flip the House of Representatives during the November 2026 midterm election, he’ll run for president in the November 2028 election.
The revelation came during an hour-long featured session and live podcast recording with Vivian Tu, host of the personal wealth and financing podcast “Networth and Chill.” During the Lone Star State appearance, Tu hosted a “first date” with the California politician as part of the podcast’s format, discussing the governor’s new book Young Man in a Hurry and his embattled pushback against President Donald Trump.
Regarding the latter, Newsom minced no words as he referred to Trump as an “invasive species” and a “jack*ss” and praised Texas Democrats’ turnout in the March primary, which saw Central Texas-based powerhouse Rep. James Talarico cinch the Democratic U.S. senatorial nomination and substantive turnout from blue voters in key counties that previously voted for Trump.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared at a feature session during the 2026 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals in Austin, Texas on Sunday, March 15. (Kelsey Thompson/MySA)
“I do not believe we will have a fair and free election as we know it in 2028, if we don’t take back the House of Representatives in 2026. Nothing else matters,” Newsom said when asked about a “second date” with his supporters at the November 2028 ballot box. “It is the hard work that you did here in Texas in this primary where Democrats showed up in record [numbers]. Work that’s been done in 30 state races that we’ve flipped blue from red – the work that needs to be done between now and then to get Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries that gavel. If we can do that? Then you and I can go on a second date.”
The comment earned thunderous applause from attendees. It wasn’t the only Texas-sized moment during Newsom’s appearance. He also reflected on Trump’s call upon Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature to redistrict the Lone Star State in the middle of the decade, going against traditional practice and governance. In California, Newsom successfully brought his own ammo in the form of California’s Proposition 50, its own iteration of a redistricting call that Golden State voters approved during the November 2025 election.
“We stood our ground, and we’re fighting with fire, man,” Newsom added.
Dunks against Texas Republicans’ policies took a step further when he referred to Texas as being home to what he called the “most regressive” taxes in the country, arguing middle-class Texans pay more in taxes than middle-class Californians. At the same time, he acknowledged the “original sin” of California was its “NIMBY” housing policies and the supply and demand imbalances that led to its defects – a source of major focus, he said, on reshaping and instituting more robust housing policy reform.
This article originally published at California Gov. Gavin Newsom drops presidential bombshell at SXSW in Texas.