Many Democrats want California Governor Gavin Newsom to run for president – including Newsom himself. Newsom came across as reasonable and moderate when he sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity last week. But despite his good hair and Bill Clinton charm, Newsom has an obvious problem – California is an economic basket case.

So Newsom is spinning a new story: California isn’t really losing people or jobs. He contended that other states are seeing people leave at a faster clip, such as Mississippi and Louisiana.

But those states have always been poor and underpopulated. By contrast, California has always touted its ability to attract people to its innovative and growing economy and bountiful job opportunities.

Something has changed. Since 2000, California has lost more than 3 million net domestic migrants (Outs minus ins). This is equal to the population of Chicago and St, Louis. Between April 2020 and July 2022, the Golden State saw a net loss of 500,000 people and over the past decade 1.7 million people moved out.

Oh, and did we mention that a lot of those former Californians are now living in … Florida.