{"id":455671,"date":"2026-09-06T20:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T20:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455671\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T20:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T20:42:10","slug":"california-gov-gavin-newsom-rallies-north-carolina-democrats-over-labor-day-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455671\/","title":{"rendered":"California Gov. Gavin Newsom rallies North Carolina Democrats over Labor Day weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom stopped in North Carolina this weekend to campaign with local Democrats<\/a> ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Newsom joined volunteers in Charlotte to knock on doors for U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper and Mecklenburg County Democrats before heading to a Labor Day weekend rally in Monroe on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The stops are part of Gov. Newsom\u2019s \u201cTake It Back\u201d campaign tour through Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Newsom, who governs the most populous state in the nation, has risen to the national spotlight in recent years for his high-profile sparring matches with the Trump administration<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Though widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, he urged the crowd in Monroe to stay focused on the immediate election cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy entire life I\u2019ve seen the expansion of rights. Now it\u2019s rights regression. This is it \u2014 don\u2019t focus on 2028,\u201d Newsom said Saturday. \u201cThe biggest mistake the Democratic Party makes is we watch cable TV and we focus on the next presidential [election].\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom emphasized that state, legislative, and local races require the most urgent focus. <\/p>\n

Read related: Dr. Annie Andrews aims to become South Carolina\u2019s first Democratic US senator in years<\/a><\/p>\n

Newsom claims Trump wants to nationalize elections<\/p>\n

Newsom criticized the Trump administration at the Sept. 5 rally, accusing the president of attempting a \u201ccultural purge\u201d and trying to nationalize elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president of the United States wants to put America in reverse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Newsom targeted Republican efforts to restrict mail-in voting<\/a> — just one day after the North Carolina State Board of Elections approved rules to change the state\u2019s vote-by-mail system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States Postal Service deciding who gets the ballots and when they\u2019re sent back, whether or not they\u2019re even counted because they\u2019re sent back a day late \u2014 that\u2019s happening in real time,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cTrying to nationalize these elections, trying to take the voting law. Donald Trump is ruthless. This election is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read: House votes to censure US Rep. Chuck Edwards over allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Your party should be worried\u2019: GOP fires back<\/p>\n

Republicans across North Carolina quickly pushed back ahead of Newsom\u2019s visit, including Cooper\u2019s opponent, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley.<\/p>\n

\u201cRadical Roy Cooper and his best friend Gavin Newsom are rallying today to bring California\u2019s \u2018progressive\u2019 agenda to North Carolina,\u201d a spokesperson for Whatley said Saturday. \u201dNewsflash for Cooper \u2014 North Carolina wants nothing to do with the radical destruction Newsom has unleashed onto his state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monroe Republican Mayor Robert Burns also commented on the high-profile visit<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years ago, nobody came to Monroe to politic. Now the Governor of California just flew 3,000 miles to stand in my town,\u201d Burns posted. \u201cWelcome to Monroe, Gavin. You and your party should be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom plans to stop in several more counties across the southeast as the nation prepares for midterm elections on Nov. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

He told local Democrats that the face of politics is changing, telling supporters it is time to \u201cfight fire with fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was joined by several other local politicians and candidates at the rally including North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, Judge Toby Hampson, Judge Christine Walczyk, President of the NC AFL-CIO Braxton Winston.<\/p>\n

Read related: Darline Graham wins special GOP primary runoff for US Senate in South Carolina, AP projects<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom stopped in North Carolina this weekend to campaign with local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,457,6666,13,991],"class_list":["post-455671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-houston","tag-politics","tag-redistricting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}