Gov. Gavin Newsom found a novel way to boost both his political war chest and his memoir sales, by tying the two together.
The Democrat offered supporters a copy of his book, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” in exchange for donations of any size to his political action committee.
The pitch worked: roughly 67,000 people chipped in, according for about two-thirds of the memoir’s total print sales, the New York Times reported.
New federal filings released Wednesday show Newsom’s PAC, Campaign for Democracy, shelled out $1,561,875 to purchase and distribute those books through the promotion.
The payments went to Porchlight Book Company and were labeled as “books at cost,” marking the committee’s largest expense in the first quarter of 2026.
Despite the hefty outlay, Newsom’s team insists the strategy paid off.
“We were thrilled with the response,” spokesman Nathan Click told the NY 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.”
According to data from Circana BookScan, the governor’s memoir has sold over 97,000 print copies since its release. Of those, the nearly 70,000 distributed through the PAC promotion made up a significant majority.
”It’s a good book. Very personal. Not your normal political book at all,” Newsom wrote in one Jan. 31 email hawking free copies of the memoir in exchange for donations.
Earlier this year, Newsom’s team touted strong sales, claiming more than 91,000 copies had been purchased through “organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases,” helping propel the book onto bestseller lists shortly after launch.
The fundraising push began in November, when Newsom emailed supporters urging them to donate after California voters approved Proposition 50, a redistricting measure he backed that could help Democrats gain up to five additional House seats.
“We just spent a bunch of money on passing Prop 50,” he wrote at the time, “so now I need to refill that coffers at my Campaign for Democracy for the fights ahead — including helping other states pass redistricting to stop Trump from rigging the next election.”
The offer resurfaced in January, often buried in the fine print of additional fundraising emails.
Other Democrats have tried similar tactics.
A PAC tied to former Vice President Kamala Harris paid $97,524 to Porchlight in January after offering her own memoir to donors, though her promotion came months after the book had already become a bestseller, according to the NY Times.
Still, Newsom’s multimillion-dollar book-buying push underscores how modern campaigns are blending publishing and politics, turning page-turners into fundraising machines.