SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to spend $19 million promoting California and dispelling \u201cmyths driven by misinformation and political rhetoric\u201d in a marketing campaign that would run through the final months of his administration as he weighs a potential run for president.<\/p>\n
The new contract, which is in the bidding process, comes as Newsom\u2019s political future and national standing are closely tied to how voters view California\u2019s economy, crime and quality of life \u2014 issues that have become central to attacks from President Trump and conservative media outlets.<\/p>\n
The Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development is seeking a contractor to design a statewide taxpayer-funded \u201cCalifornia Brand Campaign,\u201d with two-thirds of spending under the proposal to be used for paid advertising and media placements. Bidding on the contract opened Feb. 24 and is expected to end March 13. <\/p>\n
The solicitation frames the campaign as an effort to push back on what Newsom has often described as misleading narratives about California. The campaign would launch during a period of financial uncertainty for the state, with Newsom\u2019s January budget projecting a $3-billion deficit next fiscal year. <\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia and its business climate have been falsely and maliciously maligned for years, and the state has a right to tell the true story \u2014 California is a great place to do live, work, invest and visit,\u201d said Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos. \u201cSetting the record straight will benefit every business, worker and resident of this state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newsom is contemplating a run for president in 2028 and says he remains undecided about whether he will pursue the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), who is vice chair of the Senate budget committee, said the language of the proposal request is concerning. He said it would make it easier to stifle criticisms of policies that he says make it difficult to do business in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is clearly part of the Gavin Newsom for President campaign, but what is most troubling to me is that this is a program to be developed by some private-sector contractor to define what is acceptable speech in the state of California,\u201d Niello said. \u201cThat scares the stuffing out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The negative image of California \u2014 homeless encampments lining the streets, smash-and-grab robberies at malls and an exodus of residents and businesses fleeing high taxes and nanny-state governance \u2014 could be a liability for Newsom if he runs for president.<\/p>\n
Newsom has seen his popularity surge in the last year after his fight-fire-with-fire approach to countering Trump\u2019s rhetoric. The two-term governor has used his expanding platform, including a podcast and nationwide book tour for his recently released memoir, to repeatedly push back on Trump\u2019s criticisms of California. He argues that California remains one of the world\u2019s largest and most dynamic economies and the envy of other states.<\/p>\n
The tone of the marketing campaign bid request itself echoes that message, with its introductory paragraph pulled directly from Newsom\u2019s State of the State speech in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia has never been about perfection,\u201d it reads. \u201cIt\u2019s about persistence. The courage of our convictions and the strength to embody them. That\u2019s the California Way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who runs the research nonprofit Latino Working Class Project, said scrutiny of the campaign will depend on whether the ads veer into politics or overtly promote Newsom in the way federal border security ads showcased the now ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to ask why now?\u201d Madrid said of Newsom\u2019s timing for the California ad campaign. \u201cHe\u2019s in the eighth inning of a nine-inning baseball game. Timing and tone are everything when considering the appropriateness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The use of taxpayer dollars to combat negative publicity about the state and the governor isn\u2019t new under the Newsom administration. <\/p>\n
Newsom tapped an employee in his communications office to serve as his \u201cdeputy director of rapid response\u201d in 2024. Staff member Brandon Richards, who made $136,000 last year, is tasked with quickly dispatching responses to information the governor\u2019s team deems inaccurate or misleading that is spread on social media and in the media.<\/p>\n
When right-wing accounts claimed in February that Newsom allows dogs to vote<\/a> in California, Richards responded<\/a> with a CBS News article <\/a>reporting that a woman was charged with five felonies for registering her canine. Richards and the governor\u2019s office pushed back on false assertions <\/a>that Newsom and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were stealing money from the state through her office that same day.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s frustration reached a boiling point over claims about the state\u2019s response to the Los Angeles wildfires last year. President Trump publicly blamed Newsom and \u201chis Los Angeles crew\u201d for the disaster, though the Republican\u2019s claims that a lack of water in Southern California led to a shortage for firefighters were widely debunked.<\/a><\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s political team launched a website in January 2025 to fight misinformation about the L.A. fires, which he said at the time would \u201censure the public has access to fact-based data.\u201d The site, www.californiafirefacts.com<\/a>, no longer appears to exist. <\/p>\n At one point, however, it redirected viewers to the redistricting campaign website for Proposition 50, according to internet archives. Newsom championed the successful redistricting ballot measure to add more Democrats to California\u2019s congressional delegation, a direct response to Trump urging Texas and other Republican states to reconfigure their congressional boundaries to elect more Republicans to Congress.<\/p>\n