While Newsom runs to center, Pritzker remains progressive

Photo: Jon Tyson on Unsplash.

In recent weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California—a longtime darling of liberal media and a presumed contender for national office—has taken a sharp and disheartening turn toward the political center.

In what can only be read as early maneuvering ahead of a presidential run, Newsom has proposed cutting healthcare access for undocumented immigrants and suggested that Democrats went “too far” in championing transgender rights.

These statements aren’t just politically calculated—they’re a betrayal of the communities that have helped build the modern Democratic coalition and a glaring example of a party establishment all too willing to abandon its principles at the altar of electability.

Let’s be clear: Newsom isn’t tacking to the center because he believes in moderation. He’s doing it because he’s reading the room in Washington and sensing that centrist talking points will score him establishment approval and donor dollars.

He’s choosing to court voters who are already drifting toward the politics of fear, backlash, and respectability, rather than fortifying the moral and humane positions the Democratic Party has claimed to champion.

Cutting healthcare for undocumented immigrants?

These are workers, neighbors, and families who kept California’s economy running through fires, floods, and pandemics.

Their labor has built the very prosperity Newsom now boasts about.

Denying them healthcare isn’t “moderate”—it’s cruel.

It’s a dangerous compromise of our supposed values.

And walking back support for trans rights at a time when trans people—especially trans youth—are under relentless political attack across the country is not pragmatism.

It’s cowardice!

It tells the LGBTQ community that their dignity and safety are negotiable!

And what’s worse?

Democratic leadership seems to be nodding along. I’m looking at Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries—who was upset at Democrats for being too aggressive against Trump.

There is a disturbing quiet—if not outright endorsement—among party elites who see Newsom’s shift as a savvy political move.

But if Democrats stand for nothing but what polls well, then the party will continue to hemorrhage trust from the very voters it claims to fight for.

Thankfully, not all hope is lost.

In contrast to Newsom’s centrism, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is showing America what real progressive leadership looks like.

Pritzker has been unapologetic in his defense of bodily autonomy, LGBTQ rights, healthcare access, labor rights, and immigrant inclusion.

He has expanded reproductive protections, stood up to right-wing censorship, and governed with a clear moral compass.

Unlike Newsom’s waffling, Pritzker’s positions aren’t performance—they are deeply rooted in values that place people over politics.

As Pritzker’s national profile rises, he is proving that bold progressivism is not only ethically right but politically viable.

He’s not running from the base—he’s organizing with it.

He’s not soft-pedaling justice to chase imaginary centrists—he’s mobilizing voters with vision and conviction.

And that’s exactly the kind of Democrat we need in the White House.

We’ve seen what happens when Democrats play it safe, water down their message, and hedge their humanity for swing votes: they lose.

Worse, they cede moral ground to those who would use fear to divide.

The future of the Democratic Party cannot be built on the backs of the vulnerable. It must be carried by leaders who stand tall for the whole coalition.

Gavin Newsom may think he’s reading the political winds. But the soul of this country won’t be saved by calculation.

It will be saved by courage.

And in this moment, it is JB Pritzker—not Gavin Newsom—who is showing what that looks like.