Gov. Gavin Newsom’s drive toward the political center has hit a jarring speed bump: He’s spending way over budget on health care for undocumented immigrants.

Let’s put this in perspective:

Newsom presumably has been repositioning himself to run for president in 2028 — less as a wild-eyed California liberal and more like a sensible moderate who can attract votes in swing states.

He wants, at the least, to be regarded and respected nationally as a top-tier presidential prospect.

But the two biggest policy issues Democrats whiffed on last year were inflation — caused partly by federal government overspending — and an unsecured southern border that allowed countless immigrants to stream into the country illegally. MAGA Republicans said that one attraction for migrants was freebie benefits in liberal states such as California.

“Kamala Rolls Out Red Carpet for Illegals” was the banner on one Donald Trump campaign piece attacking Democrat Kamala Harris, whose vulnerable California political roots ran deep.

Newsom, in fact, bragged that California was a national trailblazer by becoming the first state to offer government health care to all low-income people, regardless of their immigrant status.

So one can only speculate how this would play with purple state voters across America — Newsom breaking the bank on health care for people living here illegally. My speculation: It’d play like a ballplayer being caught off base.

It would fit nicely into many Americans’ stereotype of a modern California governor: the leader of a radical, lefty, out-of-control state.