The headline gave away the plot: “Gavin Newsom Surges in 2028 Presidential Primary Poll.”

In a breathless article posted Tuesday, Newsweek was nice enough to cut to the chase in a section headlined, “Why It Matters”: “The battle to become the 2028 presidential election candidate will likely set the new direction for the Democratic Party as it struggles with net favorability at what one recent poll showed to be a three-year low.”

Cue the genesis of the stunning transformation that Governor Gavin Newsom of California is undergoing. With eyes firmly on the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, he is quickly trying to morph from the hard-left governor of America’s most liberal state into a middle-of-the-road moderate capable of winning independents unhappy with both Democrats and their MAGA counterpoints.

Mr. Newsom has been busy moderating his uber-liberal views, most recently espousing a whole new affection for fossil fuels. In the last few weeks, the governor — staring down gas prices that could reach $8 a gallon by some estimates — has been working hard to reverse his tough stance on the oil industry.

The governor’s policy shift comes after two major refineries announced closures, creating supply concerns in the nation’s second-largest gasoline market. Phillips 66 will shut its Los Angeles facility by late 2025, and Valero plans to close its Benicia refinery next year.

Mr. Newsom, who previously criticized oil companies for “screwing” consumers, now acknowledges the state’s dependence on fossil fuels during what he described as an inevitable energy “transition.”

“We are all the beneficiaries of oil and gas. No one’s naive about that,” Mr. Newsom said at a press conference last month. “So it’s always been about finding a just transition, a pragmatism in terms of that process.”

The governor is currently locked in negotiations with members of his own party on a plan to increase oil production, a proposal that could receive legislative approval before the state session ends in mid-September. Mr. Newsom’s draft legislation would skip past climate regulations by providing blanket environmental approval for oil wells, bypassing litigation that has stalled multiple drilling projects.

The policy reversal represents a significant shift for Mr. Newsom, who previously called the climate crisis a “fossil fuel crisis” at a 2023 United Nations summit and pushed legislation allowing penalties on oil companies for excessive profits.

But in April, the governor directed the California Energy Commission to work with refiners on fuel supply planning. The commission’s June recommendations aligned closely with industry priorities, including stabilizing crude production and reducing import restrictions.

Californians already face sky-high gas prices, which currently average $4.49 per gallon, $1.33 above the national average, according to AAA. Prices could soar with the closure of the two refineries, prompting action from a governor who wants to be president.

Yet Mr. Newsom will need to go head-to-head with more than 120 environmental groups that have signed a letter opposing his proposal, calling it an industry giveaway that would harm air and water quality.

The term-limited Democratic governor has recently taken other positions that mark a departure from his hard-left bona fides, including hosting allies of President Trump on his podcast, proposing cuts to immigrant healthcare benefits, and pushing for aggressive action against homeless encampments.

Mr. Newsom’s most dramatic policy reversal came in May, when he proposed limiting healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants, citing the state’s $12 billion budget deficit. The proposal, which passed in June, represents a stunning about-face from last year, when California became one of the first states to extend free healthcare to all poor adults regardless of immigration status.

The program, championed by Mr. Newsom as a step toward universal healthcare, ultimately cost $2.7 billion more than anticipated.

The governor also changed his stance on homelessness in May, offering California cities a blueprint to clear encampments and calling for decisive action. “No more excuses,” he said. “It is time to take back the streets.”

In addition, Mr. Newsom has hosted prominent Trump allies on his podcast, including a former White House strategist, Steve Bannon, and a conservative activist, Charlie Kirk. During their appearances, Mr. Newsom has agreed with his guests on restricting transgender athletes in women’s sports and called defunding the police “lunacy.”

The national director for the progressive group RootsAction, Norman Solomon, hit Mr. Newsom hard, saying he is “willing to throw basic decency under the 2028 campaign bus.”

“Newsom is well on his way to self-satire as a former liberal who’s so obsessed with becoming president that he develops a reflex of punching down — at immigrants, the homeless, farmworkers, people living paycheck to paycheck,” Mr. Solomon told the Associated Press.