What is it about failed governors that convinces Democrats they should lead the nation?
Mark Halperin released his January installment of his “8 for ’28” Democratic nomination rankings, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom remains at the top of the list. Remarkably, another failed governor — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker — made the biggest jump in the rankings and now sits at No. 4. The third member of that trifecta of America’s worst governors, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, almost became vice president, which would have made him a heartbeat away from the presidency.
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With Newsom still at No. 1 for 2028, it’s instructive to look at what other lists he tops. “He is ranking number one in so many important things,” says Benny Johnson, who put together a helpful breakdown. California is numero uno in homelessness, poverty, retail crime, gas prices, unemployment, housing costs, water bills, anti-business regulations, income tax, gas tax, and budget deficits. Unsurprisingly, his state again ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for residents moving out, according to U-Haul data.
In an interview with Johnson, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas — a state experiencing the opposite shift — explained the trend:
For the second year in a row, Arkansas is the number one state in the country for inbound migration. We have been a great beneficiary of a lot of people who are fleeing California because it’s too expensive, too liberal, too controlling, too regulated, and they’re coming to Arkansas because they want an environment where they get to make their own decisions — about how they’re going to raise their kids, how they’re going to run their businesses — and they want their freedom to do that. They can find that here in Arkansas.
Johnson joked that he might be the only person traveling to California, where he has gone to expose massive fraud. After Walz’s decision not to seek reelection, exposing such fraud appears to be the only way to hold these governors — who are destroying once-great states — accountable.
"The fraud uncovered in Minnesota was very bad and led to the destruction of Tim Walz’ career,” Johnson wrote on X. “But Gavin Newsom’s California is far worse.”
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As he feels the pressure mounting, Newsom is resorting to personal attacks. He’s mocked Johnson’s beard and spelling, and his team even put out a comment that progressives called “homophobic.” The governor thinks his strategy of false bravado — where he attempts to go on the offensive to deflect attacks on his record — works, even though it requires him to misrepresent indisputable facts. This was evident in his debate with a successful governor like Sanders and Ron DeSantis of Florida, when he lied about the border, parental rights, crime, and homelessness.
It’s the last issue, homelessness, that is the focus of Johnson's California trip. First, here are the numbers, just as shocking as those in Minnesota’s Somali fraud scandal, which Johnson provides:
Gavin Newsom spent $24 billion on "solving homelessness." That adds up to $170K per homeless person in California. Where I’m from, $170K will buy you a house. California could have just bought homes for every homeless person. Anyway, what was the result? California gained 30,000 MORE homeless. The most in America, by far. So where did all the money go, Gavin? Fraud. It’s provable. And we’re about to investigate exactly how… get ready.
While those facts are staggering, and Johnson will no doubt uncover immense fraud, it’s easy to glaze over the numbers. It was Nick Shirley's video exposing the fake Somali-fun daycare centers that blew that scandal open. It’s when you actually see the consequences that the failure becomes real.
I grew up in Los Angeles. My childhood home actually burned down in the fires, which are just another demonstration of Newsom’s failed leadership. I moved 30 miles out of L.A. almost 15 years ago. And just as friends who haven’t seen your kids for a while recognize how much they’ve grown — much more than you, who are with them every day — whenever I drive into Los Angeles once every couple of months, the deterioration of the city is more evident. It truly feels third-world.
Don't believe me? Johnson posted a video of his drive through the city. What he saw shocked him:
I can confirm that San Francisco looks the same. How long before every city in the state — including my own — looks like this? Several of my neighbors have already fled to red states. With that in mind, Johnson’s final warning should be heard by all Americans: "Gavin Newsom doesn't want you to watch this video. But you should, because Gavin Newsom wants to do this to the rest of the country. Don't let him. Don't let Gavin Newsom do this to your town."
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