DORCHESTER COUNTY, South Carolina — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first stops in South Carolina on Thursday had gone largely according to plan.
In Hardeeville, the Democratic governor was welcomed warmly with a standing ovation. The reception remained friendly in Beaufort, where another enthusiastic crowd sweated it out at the former Penn School, one of the nation’s first schools for formerly enslaved people, to hear him speak.
Then Newsom arrived in rural Dorchester County — an hour and a half late — and was met by a small but spirited group of protesters who stood outside the venue holding signs that offered a decidedly different message: “Wrong Coast,” “Don’t California My South Carolina,” “Go Home Gavin,” and “Clean Up Your State First.”
One sign featured a map purporting to show reports of fecal matter across San Francisco.
“This is the grassroots of the grassroots,” CJ Westfall, chairman of the Dorchester County Republican Party, who organized the protest, told the Washington Examiner.
As Newsom arrived, protesters shouted, “I want to see your hair!” and “Go home, Gavin!”
Inside, however, the mood could not have been more different.
Newsom was greeted by another standing-room-only crowd — his third of the day — that clapped, cheered, and hung on his every word as he delivered a warning about President Donald Trump, voting rights, and what he described as threats to American democracy.
“We saw the president of the United States try to light democracy on fire, try to destroy our democracy,” Newsom said. “Here he is trying to rig the election before one vote is cast. The game has changed. That means we need to change.”
One woman sitting in the front row held up three signs that read: “Hold me!” “SOS,” and “SAVE US” on yellow construction paper. She, like countless others, waited in line to have her picture taken with the governor.
The split-screen scene offered perhaps the clearest snapshot yet of Newsom’s political challenge as he makes another swing through the South, including the state that holds the first 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
To his supporters inside, Newsom was a combative national Democratic voice willing to confront Trump and urge his party to fight harder. Outside, he was the embodiment of everything South Carolina Republicans say they do not want: California liberalism, high costs, homelessness, and the policies of a state they frequently invoke as a warning about Democratic governance.
Newsom used his remarks to argue that Democrats have spent too much time waiting for a presidential candidate to rescue them while Republicans have built political power from the ground up.
“We’re consumed by the ‘savior,’” Newsom said. “The perfect person that’s going to come along on a white horse and save the day. And these guys are ruthless, focusing on judges and city council races and school board races. And they’ve earned their majorities in a lot of these states because they’re out there grinding, and we’re out there watching cable TV waiting for the 2028 presidential calendar.”
“And so I’m trying to just reorient this into a different framework,” he added.
Newsom’s trip through South Carolina comes as he increasingly positions himself as a leading national Democratic voice ahead of the 2028 presidential contest, even as he insists his focus is broader than his own political future.
His message Thursday was that Democrats need to stop waiting for Washington — or the next presidential nominee — and begin competing aggressively at every level of government.
Newsom also briefly touched on another political fight back home: the contentious race to replace Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress.
Newsom said he expects to endorse someone in the San Francisco congressional race, though he hasn’t yet decided which candidate he would support.
The race has become an increasingly bitter contest between state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan.
“I haven’t even gotten into that yet,” Newsom told reporters. “Obviously, I’ve worked extraordinarily closely with Scott, and so I have a lot of respect and admiration for Scott. And I haven’t even weighed into that race.”
Pelosi has endorsed Chan, who has assembled an extensive list of prominent backers, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and former Sen. Barbara Boxer, as well as Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Ro Khanna (D-CA), and former San Francisco Mayors Willie Brown and Art Agnos. Major labor organizations, including the California Federation of Labor Unions, the California Teachers Association, SEIU California, and the San Francisco Labor Council, have also backed Chan.
Newsom said he expects to make a batch of endorsements in California, including in congressional districts redrawn under Proposition 50, the ballot measure he spearheaded last year to make five Republican-held seats more competitive for Democrats. Newsom also said he plans to weigh in on statewide ballot measures.
On Friday, Newsom is scheduled to continue his South Carolina swing with stops in Aiken and West Columbia. He will also participate in a fireside chat with state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, the Democratic candidate for governor, and attend a meet-and-greet in Lancaster.
Newsom heads to North Carolina on Saturday for events in Mecklenburg County and Monroe.
Thursday’s protest in Dorchester County underscored the obstacles facing Newsom as he attempts to make his arguments in conservative territory.
The Republican National Committee has already shrugged off his Southern swing. Emma Hall, the RNC’s southeast regional communications director, tied Newsom’s record to that of former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who is among the party’s most prominent figures in the state.
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“Emptying prisons, coddling illegal aliens, going after parents’ rights, and pushing the far-left gender agenda on kids may sound like Gavin Newsom’s California nightmare, but it’s Roy Cooper’s record too,” Hall told the Washington Examiner. “Cooper and Newsom are radical lunatics, and North Carolinians should run like hell from both of them.”
Whether the receptions there resemble the standing-room-only crowds inside Thursday’s events or the protesters waiting outside in Dorchester may offer another glimpse of the political terrain Newsom is entering as he carries his California brand to more voters in the South.