Newsom Family Moving Back To Marin County

According to a statement by the Governor’s office on Monday night, California Governor Gavin Newsom and his family will officially be moving back to Marin County, dividing time  between Sacramento and Marin. The statement said the Newsoms want their children to have continuity in their education.

Since 2003, California Governors have often split time between living in Sacramento and elsewhere in the state. For both of his terms, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger flew back and forth between Los Angeles and Sacramento each day on his private “Bear Force One” jet so that he could reside at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of L.A. Former Governor Jerry Brown had less of a commute, often living in his Oakland home. Until Monday, Newsom appeared to break that trend, as they sold their Marin County house a year after being elected in 2018 and moved to Sacramento full-time.

Newsom has lived in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento, since 2019. However, with their eldest child, Montana, officially entering high school for the 2024-2025 school year, the Newsom’s had been looking for a solution so as to not have to greatly disrupt their children’s education. As Newsom is set to leave the Governorship in January 2027 because of term-limits, it would likely mean a split-school situation for their children. After a growing number of rumors in the past few weeks, the Governor’s office confirmed on Monday that Newsom and his family will now officially split up time living in both Marin County and Sacramento.

“To ensure continuity in their children’s education, the family will split their time between Sacramento and Marin heading into the coming academic year,” said Governor’s office on Monday. “The family’s children are transitioning grade levels, including to high school this fall. The Governor and First Partner want to create continuity in their children’s education, recognizing the Governor’s term ends in January 2027.”

According to their plan, Newsom and the First Partner are to stay in Fair Oaks when in Sacramento. However, when in Marin County, they will stay with extended family, with a home purchase likely to come in the next few years. Montana will attend the Branson School, an elite private school in Ross, where Siebel Newsom also attended. As for Newsom, he will continue to commute by car due to the short distance between Sacramento and the Bay. When going between Sacramento and his home or his office in San Francisco, Newsom operates out of a makeshift office in the SUV’s backseat, with Marin County travels also now likely to use the same setup.

Sacramento and Marin County

While Newsom has been talking of a move out of Sacramento and back to the Bay Area throughout his second term, the move nonetheless has raised concerns that he has already been transitioning out of being Governor and is looking at the move to be a part of a likely 2028 presidential run.

“Every major presidential candidate always needs that official home to go back to in their home state, and Newsom is probably looking into that,” explained political advisor Daniel Corwin to the Globe on Tuesday. “And the home is never in a suburb. That home is always in a quiet or more rural location out side of the ‘home’ city. This ensures privacy, security, and any parties, fundraisers or press events having enough room. Biden has Rehoboth Beach and and his home in Wilmington. Trump has Mar-a-Lago down in Florida and Trump Tower, with the latter being a notable exception to this trend. Bush had the Crawford Ranch, Reagan had his Western White House in Santa Barbara County. You know, the list goes on.”

“For Newsom, Marin County is where he has lived before and close enough to his roots in San Francisco. So it makes sense that he his starting to relocate there. He’s saying it is for his children’s education not wanting to get mixed up, and he has the perfect excuse with his oldest going into high school. But he is setting up showing off being from the Bay Area, and a home in Marin County makes sense on many levels. He obviously likes living there.”

“If he is elected in 2028, then things will get dicey. He says he doesn’t want to disrupt his kids’ schools. But if he goes to Washington, will they all go? This move could bite him a bit in that eventuality. You know, he said he wanted his kids to transition smoothly, but then he’ll disrupt everything when it suits him. The optics aren’t great. Especially with him wanting his kids to go to one of the wealthiest areas of the state.”

“Also, the move has made many worry about him starting to check out of Sacramento already. He’s on the final home stretch of his time as Governor, another two and a half years. He’s probably got an eye out on the Marin County housing market and is taking his time on getting a home he wants. This all seems like a simple decision for their kids, but look behind it a bit, and there is a lot more going on.”

More on Newsom’s  split time move between Marin County and Sacramento is likely to come out soon.