A yearlong head start is positioning California’s Gavin Newsom as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 2028.

Yet Newsom is running against a Republican Party evolving away from Donald Trump, within a Democratic Party still finding itself after last year’s loss.

WASHINGTON — Before flying to Brazil this week, showing up for the United States at an international summit skipped by the Trump administration , California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a stop in Texas . The redistricting fight that had started there had come to a halt in California thanks to the governor’s action. “Don’t poke the bear,” Newsom told an elated crowd of Democrats.

In Washington, a handful of Senate Democrats had just voted with Republicans to reopen the government, relenting on a fight for an extensi

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