California Governor Gavin Newsom is heading back to New Hampshire this Saturday, Oct. 17, for a day of voter rallies and fundraising events alongside the state's top Democratic candidates. The term-limited governor will visit Exeter with Rep. Chris Pappas, now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, before joining Pappas and gubernatorial candidate Cinde Warmington for a canvassing launch in Nashua.
According to the New York Post, the Nashua stop takes place at a Democratic field office that was funded through an earlier email fundraising appeal from Newsom. From there, Newsom joins a voter mobilization event in Exeter with Pappas before capping the day with a meet-and-greet alongside Stefany Shaheen on Saturday evening. Newsom's team described the trip as part of a broader push to help Democrats win next month's midterm elections.
Pappas, a New Hampshire congressman, won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on September 8 and now faces Republican nominee and former U.S. Senator John Sununu in a bid to replace retiring three-term Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, according to CBS News. Warmington, a former Executive Councilor, secured the Democratic nomination for governor and will face incumbent Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte in the November 3 general election, per Ballotpedia.
A Governor Entering His Final Months, Eyeing the National Stage
Newsom is in his second term as California's governor and cannot seek re-election under the state's term limits, meaning his tenure in Sacramento ends in January 2027, as noted by PBS News. That looming exit has coincided with an increasingly national travel schedule. The Post's reporting notes Newsom has visited New Hampshire more than once in 2026, including a March trip to promote his memoir, and has also traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Munich Security Conference in Germany, and London, where he signed a clean-energy agreement with the United Kingdom.
That European trip cost roughly $57,000 for flights, hotels and meals, per records cited by the Post, with expenses covered by the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit funded by wealthy donors and corporations. In September, Newsom also visited Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina — his seventh visit to the South in three years — a trip his team pitched as another push for Democrats ahead of the midterms.
Memoir Tour Doubled as Campaign Spending
Newsom's book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, was ghostwritten by journalist Mark Arax and published through Penguin Press on February 24, 2026, according to Penguin Random House. The Post reports Newsom promoted the 304-page book on a national tour that included Nashville, Boston and New York, and that his federal political committees spent more than $1.5 million buying copies of the memoir, along with tens of thousands of dollars renting venues for campaign-style events.
Federal filings show Newsom's Campaign for Democracy PAC, launched in March 2023 with $10 million transferred from his 2022 gubernatorial campaign, ended 2025 with $3.4 million in cash on hand after heavy spending on national digital advertising and travel, the New York Times reported. His team has touted more than $526,000 in contributions to New Hampshire Democrats this cycle, spread across more than 23,500 donations, with beneficiaries including the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Pappas and Stefany Shaheen. Nationally, the Post reports Newsom has raised more than $6.5 million for Democrats this cycle, according to his team.
The 2028 Calendar Fight Looms Over the Visit
New Hampshire's trip also lands amid a structural dispute over the 2028 presidential primary calendar. The Democratic National Committee adopted its early-state schedule in August, placing South Carolina's primary first on January 22, Nevada's second on February 1, and New Hampshire's third on February 8, according to Ballotpedia. New Hampshire state law, however, requires its Secretary of State to hold the presidential primary at least seven days before any other state's contest, a statutory mandate that has put the state on a collision course with the DNC's calendar, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported.
The Post notes Newsom has also visited Nevada twice this year, in March and July, and traveled to South Carolina in September — the state set to lead off the 2028 nominating calendar. New Hampshire remains an important early proving ground for presidential candidates regardless of its official primary ranking.
Newsom and the Harris Question
The visit also comes as speculation continues over the 2028 Democratic field. Longtime Democratic strategist Doug Herman told the Post that former Vice President Kamala Harris had failed to capitalize on her opportunity and said she has not entered the political mix. Newsom has vowed not to challenge Harris if she runs for president a third time, according to the same report.
Newsom previously traveled to New Hampshire in July 2024 as an official surrogate for President Joe Biden, holding an event at a Hooksett rest stop following Biden's debate performance that month, according to NH Journal. That history of showing up for the party in moments of political pressure now extends into Saturday's stops in Exeter and Nashua, where Newsom will again put his name — and his PAC's money — behind New Hampshire's Democratic ticket.
