(SNews) – Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is widely believed to be running a shadow campaign to replace Democrat President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, has suffered a record low approval rating among voters in his deep blue home state of California.
The news comes as pressure mounts on Democrats to sideline Biden as the president’s approval continues to hit new lows.
On Sunday, a New York Times/Siena Poll revealed that 71% of respondents agree that Biden is too old to run for a second term.
The poll shows that a whopping 54% of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 now believe that he should step aside for a new candidate.
The bad news for Democrats is that their whole ticket for 2024 isn’t sitting well with voters as Vice President Kamala Harris continues to plumb new lows.
Rumors have been swirling for some time that the Democrats’ Plan B involved replacing Biden with Newsom.
This move would also scrub Harris from the ticket as default as they are both from the same state of California.
However, while many on the Left may view Newsom as the golden boy who could take on Trump in 2024 and save the Democrats, California voters have seemingly had enough of their governor.
A new UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times revealed Tuesday that Newsom’s approval dropped to an all-time low last month.
49% of the 6,342 California registered voters polled said they disapproved of Newsom’s performance as governor.
Newsom’s approval rating was 44%, which is down 11 points from February.
By way of comparison, the latest Economist/YouGov poll had Biden’s approval rating at 43%.
Biden’s disapproval rating is at 54%.
“He’s kind of taking on a new persona,” Mike DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley poll, told the Times.
“He’s no longer just the governor of California.
“He’s a spokesperson for the national party and basically voters are being asked to react to that.”
Newsom has long been suspected of harboring ambitions of taking the White House in 2024 despite his public denial and rhetorical support for Biden.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) suggested this week that Newsom is running a shadow campaign.
Fetterman said Newsom doesn’t have the “guts” to admit as much.
As Slay News has previously reported, the governor’s ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle has revealed that Newsom has been working his entire career toward the White House.
“Do you think he’s gonna run for President?” Guilfoyle said when asked about Newsom’s plans during a February interview with Charlie Kirk.
“Tell us how you really think,” Guilfoyle said laughing.
“Do I think — I know he is gonna run for president!
“He’s always wanted to be president of the United States.
“You know, this is something that he wants very badly, and I’ll tell you something.
“I think you are going to see Gavin Newsom versus Donald J. Trump running against each other for president, father-in-law and ex-husband,” Guilfoyle said.
Newsom has ostensibly been working to elevate his national profile in recent months.
In addition to renting billboards in red states criticizing conservatives’ support for the unborn and the Second Amendment, he has been making noise about “climate change.”
The governor has also glad-handing with foreign dignitaries, including the dictatorial leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the 56-year-old Democrat has seen a drop in popularity among every major voter category.
Whereas 12% of Democrats disapproved of his performance in February, 25% of Democrats have now soured on him.
Newsom may have chased away some support by flouting his own draconian pandemic restrictions during the pandemic.
During the height of restrictions, Newsom was caught dining out at a fancy restaurant while masked Californians struggled to make do.
Meanwhile, Republican political consultant Rob Stutzman told the Times that concerns about the economy, crime, and homelessness are likely the major drivers of Newsom’s growing unpopularity.
Whereas FBI statistics for 2022 showed violent crime dropping nationwide, it spiked sharply in California, Center Square reported.
The violent crime rate per 100,000 jumped from 481.2 to 499.5 under Newsom’s watch.
The same dataset shows the figure dropped from 387 to 380.7 nationwide.
According to Neighborhood Scout, the likelihood of becoming a victim of a property crime in Newsom’s California is 1 in 43.
The chances of falling victim to a violent crime are 1 in 227.
In California’s cities, the outlook is far bleaker, however.
The chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in Sacramento are 1 in 148.
In Los Angeles, 1 in 135.
In San Francisco, it’s 1 in 186, and in Oakland, it’s 1 in 80.
California streets are not only dangerous but often crowded by homeless encampments.
Despite spending $17.5 billion to combat homelessness between 2018 and 2022, the state’s homeless population grew.
It has soared so much that there are now over 170,000 homeless people on the streets in California, CNN reported.
As for economic concerns, the unemployment rate in California as of July was roughly 4.6%, leaving Newsom’s state ranked 49th in the country.
“I think the real wake-up call is how dramatically Democrat voters seem to be shifting underneath him,” Stutzman told the Times.
“I’m not surprised his numbers are down.
“I’m surprised his numbers are down that far.
“He’s clearly upside down.”
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