California Gov. Gavin Newsom visits Montgomery; public events limited

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday visited Montgomery as the first stop on a tour of the South.

Although the tour was announced in advance, Newsom, a Democrat considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, did not have public events and did not make appear to make himself available to local or state media during the day. Newsom’s office did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.

Newsom met with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed as part of a tour of sites of the Civil Rights Movement. During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Reed said he hopes Newsom has a better understanding of the state now that he’s visited.

“The road to prosperity comes through the South, and I believe it comes through Alabama, and certainly right here in Montgomery,” Reed said “And I think to make sure (we have to make sure) that leaders, again, from the political side to the private sector, understand what’s happening in the heartland, and they understand what’s happening in southern cities and communities like this.”

According to Reed, he and Newsom also had conversations about the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act, and the Alabama Legislature redrawing the congressional map of the state in attempt to replace U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, with a Republican.

Reed said they also discussed “the history of the city of Montgomery and all the courageous men and women who fought for civil rights before it was popular, before it was cool, while it was very, very dangerous, life-threatening, and how they fought for the Voting Rights Act and many of the freedoms that are at risk today.”

This is not the first time the governor has visited Montgomery. Newsom in 2024 visited the city unannounced and made a video outside of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, which he visited again Wednesday.

Reed said in addition to visiting Civil Rights sites, Newsom also visited small businesses and Alabama State University to talk with students.

“(The conversation) was a student-led conversation around initiatives that he has brought on in California,” Reed said. “Things that he has seen there, both with college students, whether it’s the rise in the cost of higher education, whether it is where is AI taking the workforce and how to prepare for the world with AI and how they should prepare themselves to create change and to lead in their current spaces.”

Alabama State University Wednesday confirmed Newsom’s visit in statement, but declined further comment.