• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

The Newsom Succession

In the Golden State, local politics is often national—and the governorship can be a path to the White House. But with a suffocating housing market, punishing taxes, and a persistent homeless crisis, the state’s crowded ’26 race has yet to produce a candidate that seems up to the challenge.

gavin Newsom
The race to succeed Newsom as governor of the nation’s largest state has suddenly become clown-car crowded, with no clear frontrunner and a roster of candidates that most politicos here consider to be pretty jayvee. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
November 25, 2025

Join Puck to listen to this article

As the aging former California Governor Jerry Brown once said while endorsing his eventual successor, the immaculately coiffed Gavin Newsom: “There’s a time for an old guy, and there’s a time for a young guy. There’s a time with no hair on top of your head, and there’s a time for a guy with really nice hair.”