Newsom may run for president, but timing is uncertain.

Is Gavin Newsom Running for President in 2024?

California Governor Gavin Newsom may be positioning himself for a 2024 presidential run, according to high-level politicians in California. However, doubts remain about whether he will make a bid in this election cycle.

“He’s certainly running a shadow campaign right now to be in position,” said Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) in an interview with The Epoch Times on June 13.

Newsom pledged not to contest the 2024 presidential nomination with President Joe Biden, but that leaves open the possibility of a Newsom run if Biden is out of the picture before November 2024.

Speculation on Newsom’s Potential Rivals

LaMalfa does not consider Vice President Kamala Harris or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg particularly viable candidates. He believes that Harris will be pushed out of the vice president slot in the upcoming election, potentially opening up another avenue for Newsom to enter the Oval Office.

Newsom’s Ambitious New Proposal

Newsom recently rolled out an ambitious new proposal: a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would expand and standardize gun control nationwide.

“The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support–while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition,” the governor said in a statement outlining the proposal.

Newsom has also sparred with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Doubts in Sacramento on 2024

While Newsom has national and specifically presidential ambitions, others in California politics are more skeptical that Newsom could make his move as soon as this cycle. A Quinnipiac University poll several months ago found that 70 percent of voters in California oppose a Newsom presidential bid in 2024.

“It would be very difficult to be governor of California and run for president at the same time,” a Republican official in Sacramento told The Epoch Times in a June 9 interview.

The official suggested the consensus in Sacramento is that Newsom is “playing the long game” by waiting a few more years to make his move.

Reagan Comparison

Newsom wouldn’t be the first California governor to reach the presidency. Former actor Ronald Reagan reached the White House after leading a very different Golden State from the one that exists today.

Like Newsom, Reagan made himself a familiar name in the years before his 1980 presidential run. In fact, his 1976 attempt to wrest the Republican nomination from incumbent President Gerald Ford could offer a foretaste of conflict between Newsom and others in

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