Gavin Newsom’s Red-state Reading Tour

Gavin Newsom is heading south to hawk his new memoir.

The California governor will launch his “Young Man in a Hurry” book tour in Nashville later this month, just before its Feb. 24 release. He’ll then have events in Atlanta and Rock Hill, South Carolina before stopping in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“It is very much on purpose to not start with the typical New York, DC, Philly [stops],” said Lindsey Cobia, Newsom’s political adviser. “We are being quite intentional in going into red states first.”

News of the tour rolled out via Newsom’s political email list, with geo-targeted invitations for nearby events. In an initial snafu, San Franciscans were asked to join him for a book event in New York.

Newsom is not exactly venturing into hostile territory. His first stop, Nashville, is a Democratic stronghold in conservative Tennessee. Still, the city has become a magnet for Californians looking to flee the state’s high cost of living or liberal politics, feeding a narrative about a Golden State exodus, which Newsom has dismissed as “California Derangement Syndrome.”

The foray into the South could demonstrate his popularity outside the coastal blue states — if he can pull in sizable crowds. Newsom also plans to boost Democratic candidates in each of the cities, particularly House and state legislative contenders, to burnish his standing as a national party figure during the midterm elections.

And though Newsom is not officially running for president, the subtext of his likely 2028 bid is not especially subtle as he puts in face time in South Carolina, an influential Democratic primary state, and Georgia, a presidential battleground.

Newsom, who has been to South Carolina twice in the last two years, is bypassing the larger cities of Charleston and Columbia to visit a region of the state he has not yet visited. Rock Hill sits just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina — another hotly-contested state in presidential and statewide races.

He is not alone among potential 2028 hopefuls in looking to the South for book promotion. Kamala Harris, whose events for her latest book “107 Days” began in New York, has concentrated much of her extended book tour on the region, including stops in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Jeremy B. White contributed to this report.