--- description: Find out why Gavin Newsom is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Gavin Newsom: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt548557e296d71886/69dfb51449bc98fc3440aec8/T100-2026-Web-Gavin-Newsom-235.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Gavin Newsom by [Philip Elliott](/author/philip-elliott/) ## Philip Elliott Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Justin Sullivan—Getty Images Unlike most lame-duck governors, California’s Gavin Newsom seems ascendant. While his [withering criticism](https://time.com/7377635/newsom-trump-racist-trope-social-media-post-criticism/ "undefined") of President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/trump-newsom-dyslexia-president/ "undefined") has made him a national player, his work at home to add universal transitional kindergarten, to build the world’s largest air-based firefighting operation, and to move toward spending over $3 billion on digital infrastructure is what won him converts. Newsom now enjoys some of the best poll numbers in the way-too-early surveys of the emerging 2028 presidential field. California’s monetary might—it’s the fourth largest economy on the planet—means Newsom’s decisions sway national debates on everything from [environmental regulation](https://time.com/7378565/gavin-newsom-trump-epa-climate/ "undefined") to consumer safety. But there are plenty of questions about his record leading a state with a stubbornly high poverty rate, one of the nation’s highest tax rates, and a quarter of its unhoused population. Newsom argues he’s the [fighter Democrats need](https://time.com/7353366/newsom-trump-advice-to-world-leaders/ "undefined") in the Trump era. Making that case will take work, but he is widely viewed as a possible front runner in the party’s emerging field of presidential hopefuls. _Elliott is a TIME senior correspondent_ Gavin Newsom Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/gavin-newsom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/gavin-newsom/"},"headline":"Gavin Newsom","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:51.345Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/gavin-newsom/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt548557e296d71886/69dfb51449bc98fc3440aec8/T100-2026-Web-Gavin-Newsom-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"creator":"Philip Elliott","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt548557e296d71886/69dfb51449bc98fc3440aec8/T100-2026-Web-Gavin-Newsom-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/gavin-newsom/","name":"Gavin Newsom"}}]}] ```