California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political action committee (PAC) spent over $1.5 million buying the governor’s own book ahead of its official February release date.
Federal records reviewed by The New York Times show that the governor’s PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, spent $1,561,875 to buy Newsom’s book, seen below:
Received my pre-ordered copy of @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom’s book, “YOUNG MAN IN A HURRY: A MEMOIR OF DISCOVERY.”
Everyone has had to discover either himself or herself.
Everyone has had to deal with struggles, pressures, fears, and anxieties. #GavinNewsom is a real person. pic.twitter.com/UuAFoOjkFi
— Garrett Boorojian (@GBoorojian) February 25, 2026
After buying thousands of copies of the book, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” the PAC distributed them to 67,000 of the governor’s supporters.
Not just any supporters, though. Only supporters who’d responded to an offer Newsom had made via email that he’d send them a copy of his upcoming book if they simply donated anything to his PAC.
“Make a contribution of ANY AMOUNT today and I will send you a copy,” the offer, made via email in November, read.
A total of 97,400 copies of Newsom’s books have reportedly been sold, meaning two-thirds of the book’s sales came from the man’s own PAC.
Despite how bad this looks for the governor, his team was full of excitement, sharing their “good news” with the public.
“We were thrilled with the response,” Newsom’s spokesperson told the Times. “Our goal was to deepen the relationship between him and the millions of folks who have already expressed support for Governor Newsom’s work. And as it turns out, the tactic more than paid for itself.”
How did the “tactic” pay for itself? Because the supporters who received a book wound up donating more than the $1,561,875 that’d been spent to purchase the books in the first place.
It’s the same strategy reportedly used by “prosperity gospel preachers’:
This is a common technique. Prosperity gospel preachers do things like this. They will collect all this $$ for charity, use it do buy their own book, bank the royalties – and then hand the books out for free. https://t.co/MNN2892uxZ
— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) April 17, 2026
There was just one problem. In March, the governor’s team “hailed his book sales” by “including a map in a news release showing all the sales by location across the country,” according to The Times.
“With more than 91,000 copies sold through organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases in the United States, the memoir surged on bestseller lists within hours,” the release said.
Critics say there was nothing organic about the stunt that Newsom’s PAC pulled. But in fairness to the governor, Republicans have done the same thing.
“In 2019, the Republican National Committee spent nearly $100,000 on copies of a book by Donald Trump Jr. — at a time when his father was president,” according to The Times.
“And in the 2024 election, records show that the R.N.C. paid Winning Team Publishing, which Mr. Trump Jr. co-founded, $217,402.32 for ‘printing/graphic services,'” the reporting continued.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also pulled the same stunt, though she did so after her book, “107 Days,” became a bestseller.
Harris is, in fact, currently on a book tour:
Vice President @KamalaHarris took the stage for her 107 Days book tour stop in Columbia, SC with Kardea Brown. 💙
📸: kymmhunter. pic.twitter.com/YxxkGr1oAA
— sky (@skylikeajedi) April 17, 2026
Dovetailing back to Newsom’s book, it reportedly contains a few wild stories, including one about the origins of the pejorative nickname “Newscum,” as President Donald Trump calls the governor.
“Trump was beaten to the punch by a middle-school bully,” according to Politico. “The California governor recounts hearing the ‘Newscum’ insult from one of a half dozen teens who cornered him on his afternoon paper route when he was 13. Newsom escaped the confrontation physically unharmed, but plenty humiliated.”
The book also recounts how the late Steve Jobs showed Newsom the first-ever iPhone.
“Newsom tells of one cocktail party in the penthouse of the Fairmont Hotel, where Apple founder Steve Jobs summoned Newsom and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to show him a soon-to-be released product, the iPhone,” as noted by Politico.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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