I am going to say this now for all the liberals in the back:

If you insist on Gavin Newsom in 2028, you will lose the election. If you screw progressive candidates, Democrats will never win another election in the United States, because there will never be another free or fair election. That will squarely be put on your shoulders.

I will not vote for Newsom in the general election if he is on the ballot. I am not voting for my own destruction. I am aware of what is at stake: the continued existence of millions of trans people, and the existence of millions more who live in poverty but whom he will not help.

Gavin Newsom will do nothing for the cost of living. He does not care. California remains one of the most expensive states in the nation and it is shrinking for a reason. San Francisco has an apocalyptic level housing crisis and his solution has mostly been to make it illegal to be homeless.

He is not likeable to your average person. People do not want "Kamala Harris but this time he's a white guy."
Millenials will not come out and vote for him. Gen Z absolutely will not vote for him. Your average independent will not vote for him. He is likeable to your average milquetoast Californian, the same kind of people who voted against (yes, against) affirmative action, twice. The same kind of people who voted for California prop 8 because they believed gay panic bullshit.

You will show that you do not support trans people. A vote for Newsom is telling every trans person you know: "I will toss you in a woodchipper because I like mediocrity. Your life does not matter to me at all." I already knew that, but everyone will know that. It will be as much of a black mark on you as supporting redlining back in the 60's was, even for people who said shit like "but I don't support segregation..."