California Gov. Gavin Newsoma staunch LGBTQ+ allyis "undeniably, unequivocally" planning to run for president in 2024 if President Biden chooses not to seek a second term, two individuals with knowledge of Newsom's plans told TheWrap, Yahoo! reported.
"After this midterm election is over, he absolutely is going to announce that he is running for the presidency once Biden announces that he is not running," a leading California fundraiser with close ties to the Newsom family said.
Regarding a 2024 re-election run, Biden told CBS' Scott Pelley on the show 60 Minutes that it's "much too early" to make a decision on that. "Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again," Biden said. "But it's just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen."
Officially, Newsoma Democrat who's expected to easily win a second term in California's gubernatorial race this Novemberhas said he has "sub-zero interest" in running for president in 2024. However, he has launched billboard campaigns in Texas, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Oklahoma attacking abortion restrictions in those individual states.
The first big clue that the governor's political plans extend beyond the Golden State occurred in July, when Newsom ran a TV ad campaign that aired in Florida and Ohio, which criticized the Republican Party's shift to the right on issues such as abortion and free speech.
Back when he was mayor of San Francisco (and before marriage equality became the law of the land), Newsom directed the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February-March 2004. However, later that year, the state supreme court voided all those licenses.