Eggs, electricity, Gavin Newsom and the new climate investor play

By David Callaway  •  November 8, 2025
Pixabay Pexels

Turns out eggs are still important. After 10 months of troops, tariffs, Trump, narco-terrorists, and indiscriminate bombing, Americans who could vote on Election Day went back to what really mattered: their pocketbooks. And that means a lot for electricity and climate change in the big mid-term campaigns next year.

Of the five big local elections on Tuesday night, three were primarily about electricity costs, which as our columnist Bill Sternberg pointed out last month, have become the eggs of the new term. Read Will electricity be the eggs of 2026?

Democratic victories for governor by Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, as well as Democratic wins for seats on the Public Services Commission in Georgia, all focused on the voter priority of keeping electricity costs low amid an arms race to build data centers for AI technology.

The big mayor’s race in New York City and the redistricting referendum in California — widely seen as a test of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s popularity ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028 — also have dramatic energy and climate implications.

The one thing all the races have in common is that for the first time energy costs have risen to the level of a priority for Americans, as public battles over green energy vs fossil fuels begin to spill on to household electric bills. In this regard, the Democrats might have President Donald Trump to thank for changing the debate from one about climate change, which has never pulled at the polls, to one about energy security.

By playing up the idea of having enough energy for the U.S. to compete in the global race for AI dominance as well as crypto, and pushing oil and gas as the energy available now, Republicans have fallen into a green trap. Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy by far, which is why it is growing faster in the U.S. and around the world despite efforts to restrict it. A major rally in green stocks this past summer underscores that phenomenon.

The campaigns of Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Newsom in California, were very different. One was about the cost of living in the nation’s most expensive city, the other about saving democracy. The challenge now is for Democratic strategists to plot how to turn those two issues into one coherent campaign platform.

Of the two, household costs clearly pulled the highest this week, and cheaper electricity should be the point of the spear on this one, as Virginia and New Jersey clearly demonstrated. For Newsom, this will be a challenge as he presides over a state that is still a large oil producer, and where the energy companies are deeply unpopular monopolies.

While the turnout in California and the 2-1 shape of the voting on his redistricting campaign should bolster Newsom’s bid to be the standard bearer of the anti-Trump flag for the Democrats in 2028, the more immediate necessity for the Democrats is to revive the party and take back the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Newsom will largely be judged on his success in helping make this happen.

For climate investors, especially in renewable energy, the illustration of voter sentiment this week is an unmistakable signal that the green energy play might be the only theme that survives the coming correction in financial markets, which will be centered around AI valuations in Big Tech.

The energy abundance play, which has propelled stocks such as Constellation Energy CEG 7.34%↑ and GE Vernova GEV 5.54%↑ this year, began as a ripple effect from the AI stone in the pond, a secondary way to make money on the AI craze. But now as AI potential is — however briefly — re-evaluated on Wall Street, the energy play may come into its own.

No matter how many data centers are built, energy security and the demand for lower costs will remain a priority for Americans and others around the world. Yes, the campaigns to de-carbonize industry, reduce harmful emissions, and mitigate climate change have taken a back seat, but they are actually byproducts of a shift into cleaner energy anyway.

Through no fault of their own, U.S. voters have demonstrated a desire for a world where energy is abundant and cheap, which is exactly what green energy such as solar, electric vehicles, and yes, wind, promises. The question for investors now is how to find the best opportunities there, such as grid enhancements, which both parties agree on, as well as nuclear.

The question for Democrats heading into next year’s midterms is how to distill all this competing information into a single clear message to American voters that they are the party of lower energy — and egg — costs and show that they mean it.

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