Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Prop. 50 was a hit with California voters who approved the anti-Trump redistricting plan by huge margins. Turns out his wine company got a cut of the deal, too.
Newsom raised $120 million last year to help pass the Election Rigging Response Act, intended to help Democrats win the House of Representatives this year by rejiggering California congressional maps to wipe out as many as five Republican-held seats.
A whopping $26,882.89 of that donor cash was spent at Plumpjack Wines — Newsom’s ritzy San Francisco’s based wine shop — for a fundraising event, according to campaign filings unearthed by the Post.
It wasn’t the first time Newsom picked up a truckload of his own pricey wines at donors’ expense.
Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy Committee — his national political machine raising millions to help burnish his national image and rail against corruption in President Donald Trump’s administration — splashed out $23,792.12 at Plumpjack Wines across two events in September and October 2023.
“It’s certainly not a good luck for him and it does raise transparency issues,” said James Christopher, a New York-based political strategist.
“As the old saying goes, those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
Attorney Mark Meuser, who is leading the effort to challenge Prop. 50 in federal court, called the Newsom wine purchases “deeply troubling.”
“Routing campaign dollars to a business long tied to his name reinforces perceptions of self-dealing,” Meuser said. “Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with politicians who use their power for personal gain.”
Plumpjack is the crown jewel of the multimillion-dollar booze empire Newsom founded in 1991 with help from Gordon Getty, the oil billionaire who bankrolled his political rise.
Newsom’s assets include the upscale San Francisco bar Balboa Cafe, Mastros Steakhouse, the Plumpjack Group and a collection of other wine, hospitality and retail businesses held in a blind trust called the Gavin C. Newsom Blind Trust, according a disclosure filed with the state last year.
Plumpjack, headquartered in San Francisco’s exclusive Marina District, sells premium wines ranging from $62 per bottle to $884 or more for a 2-pack Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, according to its website.
Newsom’s sprawling wine empire includes Plumpjack Winery in Oakville, Calif., which he co-founded with Gordon Getty, Napa Valley-based Odette Estate Winery, and roughly a dozen other associated entities, according to Newsom’s economic disclosure form filed last year.
His wineries have hosted exclusive charity events like “Vineyard Vibes,” a benefit for Plumpjack Foundation, where Newsom was spotted sipping a glass as chaotic anti-ICE protests roiled Los Angeles last summer.
Reached for comment, Newsom advisor Lindsey Cobia pointed the finger at Trump.
“This is not a conflict. The only one enriching themselves in office is Donald Trump, who has already accumulated nearly $12 billion of crypto holdings and $800 million of income from foreign nationals and state linked entities seeking to curry favor with his administration,” she said.
Meuser countered that Newsom should “lead by example and recognize that true leadership means avoiding even the appearance of using public position for private benefit.”
“This isn’t just about one event, it is about restoring trust in a system where the connected politicians play by different rules.”
Newsom cast himself as star in the Prop. 50 effort, spending tens of millions blanketing the airwaves with ads painting the ballot measure as key to protecting democracy against a corruption and authoritarian White House.
His federal Campaign for Democracy fund has spent heavily to build Newsom’s profile ahead of an expected presidential run, hawking merch like $100 anti-Trump “kneepads” and offering donors free copies of Newsom’s memoir Young Man in a Hurry in exchange for donations.
Jeff Burton, partner at the political consultancy Maven Advocacy, said voters may overlook the appearance of self-dealing in the modern era — to a point.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire — whether there’s more here remains to be seen,” he said.
