The California Nurses Association, whose support helped Gov. Jerry Brown defeat Republican Meg Whitman in 2010, on Wednesday endorsed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to succeed him.
The endorsement, though not unexpected, comes unusually early – three years before the 2018 election. It is an indication of Newsom’s appeal to organized labor, and also a challenge facing one of his main rivals, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.