FAIR OAKS —
With less than a month left before the Nov. 5 election, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told Sacramento political donors at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s estate Tuesday that former President Trump will get a second chance to concede.
“Look, we’re going to win this thing, and he’s going to say we didn’t but we’re going to win,” Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said on a poolside patio surrounded by oak trees during a campaign fundraiser at Newsom’s nearly 7-acre property in the Sacramento suburbs.
“I have to tell you, I’m going to take great satisfaction that this will turn the page on Donald Trump once and for all, and to be part of this, call me petty, but I’m going to be petty.”
Newsom praised Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to tap him as her running mate after President Biden halted his reelection campaign and she secured the support to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
“There wasn’t a better choice,” Newsom said. “There was no doubt in my mind that when she sat down with Gov. Walz she would not only look at him as a situational partner, as it relates to this campaign, but a sustainable partner, as a governing partner.”
Walz told donors that their contributions help the campaign travel to swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that will determine the fate of the election. He criticized the electoral college system, which encourages presidential candidates to focus their time on voters in a small number of states, rather than across the country.
“I think all of us know, the electoral college needs to go,” Walz said. “We need a national popular vote. But that’s not the world we live in.”
Polling shows most Americans favor a popular vote to determine the presidency, and the position has been common among elected Democrats. But it would take a constitutional amendment to get rid of the electoral college system, a hurdle that requires approval from two-thirds of Congress and 75% of the states.
Several states, including California, have signed on to a National Popular Vote Compact, pledging to award their electoral college votes to the winner of the popular election. That could only take effect if more states sign on, and it overcomes likely legal challenges, including questions over whether congressional approval is necessary.
Walz’s trip marks his second California visit in three days as the Democratic ticket seeks to tap the state’s wealthy donors in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
Tickets for the event, which was co-hosted by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, started at $3,300 and ran as high as $100,000 for hosts.
The guest list for the gathering at Newsom’s 12,000-square-foot home included Kounalakis’ father, developer Angelo Tsakopoulos; Chris Larsen, a billionaire tech investor and Ripple co-founder; and Sacramento Kings co-owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé.
Walz also attended high dollar events in Santa Barbara and San Diego on Sunday before traveling to Seattle. After spending several hours in Sacramento, Walz departed for Reno in the closely divided state of Nevada in the late afternoon.
Though California votes solidly Democratic, it’s a top stop for both campaigns in the 2024 election.
JD Vance, Republican vice presidential nominee, is attending a fundraiser in Woodside on Wednesday evening. Former President Trump also plans to visit California this weekend, with a rally slated for the Coachella Valley on Saturday.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson bashed Newsom and Walz in a statement about the campaign stop.
“Today, Tim Walz trades in one failed California Democrat for another as Gavin Newsom hosts him to raise campaign cash in Sacramento,” she said. “The more time Walz spends in California with radical Democrats, the further away Kamala Harris’ and his already-extreme agenda moves from the American people.”
A top supporter for Biden, Newsom campaigned for Harris and Walz in Pennsylvania and headlined a fundraiser for the Democratic nominees in New York last month. The governor also attended the debate between Harris and Trump in September, lauding her performance in interviews after the contest.
Walz commended Newsom on Tuesday for his work to help boost Democrats in other states.
“We don’t have a more articulate and joyful warrior in messaging and policy across this country than Gavin Newsom,” he told the crowd.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and U.S. Rep. Ami Bera joined the party along with lobbyist Darius Anderson, California Medical Assn. Chief Executive Dustin Corcoran, Jason Kinney, a lobbyist and friend of the governor, and dozens of other guests.
The Newsoms purchased the $3.7-million, six-bedroom home in Fair Oaks, roughly 15 miles from the state Capitol before his 2019 inauguration. Newsom now splits his time between the Fair Oaks estate and a home in Marin County, just north of San Francisco.
