Gavin Newsom’s PAC Spent $1.5 Million To Buy Copies of His Book

Marijan Murat/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) PAC spent over half a million dollars buying and distributing thousands of copies of his book to supporters, amounting to around two-thirds of the copies sold.

Newsom’s move to send his book to supporters began in November, months before its February release date. The governor offered a free copy of Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery to anyone who donated.

“Make a contribution of ANY AMOUNT today and I will send you a copy,” the email read.

Newsom’s PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, spent $1,561,875 to purchase and deliver the 67,000 copies of his book purchased through the donation program, The New York Times first reported. Of the 97,400 books sold since the book’s release, about two-thirds of sales came from Newsom’s program.

“We were thrilled with the response,” a spokesperson for Newsom 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.”

The spokesperson also noted that the amount of money donated through the campaign was actually more than the PAC paid to purchase them, though he noted that the governor did not receive royalties from the book. The purchase of the books, made through the governor’s PAC to the Porchlight Book Company, amounted to the largest expenditure thus far this year. The PAC listed the purchase as “books at cost.”

The governor’s team touted the sales of the book in a March press release alongside a map showing state-by-state sales.

“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,” read the release.

Newsom heavily promoted Young Man in a Hurry, the book tour for which created the viral, and trickily edited, exchange where the governor told a room, “I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy.”

Fox News hosts and allies of President Donald Trump claimed the exchange, which omitted both Newsom’s discussion of living with dyslexia and a full view of the crowd, was racist, prompting fierce pushback from the governor.

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