Since September of last year, Gavin Newsom, the ambitious and proudly liberal California governor, has tauntingly challenged Ron DeSantis, the ambitious and proudly conservative Florida governor, to a debate.
He would even allow Sean Hannity, the conservative anchor of Fox News, to moderate. On Wednesday, DeSantis accepted the offer, as per New York Times.
Newsom, DeSantis Set to Debate with Sean Hannity as Moderator
Newsom enumerated his proposed parameters in a letter sent last week: a date of November 8 or 10, a location in Georgia, Nevada, or North Carolina, and a focus "on the impact of representation at the state level."
Two males who are desperate for as much attention as possible might find such an event mutually amenable. Newsom has made no secret of his desire to run for president, possibly as early as the year 2028. In a recent New York Times/Siena College poll on the Republican primary, former President Donald J. Trump led DeSantis by more than 35 percentage points, and his three criminal indictments have dominated the news for months.
Both DeSantis and Newsom have attempted to portray themselves as the Platonic Ideal of their respective party's governor, and their state as a sanctuary. DeSantis has significantly shifted Florida to the right by signing laws that prohibit abortions after six weeks and restrict transgender rights, and by publicizing his opposition to pandemic public health measures.
Newsom has signed extensive climate legislation, sought to make California a "sanctuary" for out-of-state abortion access, and recently called for a constitutional amendment to implement gun control. Newsom ran advertisements in Florida last year stating, "Your state's freedom is under attack."
In June, DeSantis accused Newsom of having a "fixation" on Florida and challenged him to challenge President Biden in the Democratic primary. From the perspective of the current presidential campaign, however, Newsom is not the ideal opponent for DeSantis.
Trump, the opponent he must defeat to have a chance of becoming president, is threatening to boycott this month's Republican debate, according to Politico
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Unexpected Showdown
As DeSantis stepped up his presidential campaign, a confrontation between the two seemed unlikely. However, Newsom has spent months attempting to convince his counterpart to accompany him on stage.
On Wednesday, DeSantis concurred, telling Sean Hannity of Fox News, "Certainly, I'm game. Just inform me the date and location."
The governor was present, according to a Newsom staffer who spoke to POLITICO. With potential debate dates of November 8 or 10, Newsom's team sent Fox News a formal request and offer last week. In accordance with this requirement, Hannity was required to moderate a 90-minute forum on Fox News alone without an in-studio audience.
Even in an era of apparently unending cable news town halls, a debate would be, to put it mildly, an unanticipated event in modern presidential politics. DeSantis would have a new venue and opponent to contrast his record in Florida after spending weeks mired in process stories about layoffs, budget cuts, and apprehensive Republican donors.
If a debate were to occur, Newsom would feel the weight of his political party under a brighter national spotlight than he has ever experienced before. As he did in a recent sit-down interview with Sean Hannity, he would be compelled to defend progressive policies in his own state and President Joe Biden's record.
In his letter, Newsom's office proposed Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina as sites for distinct debates. Last week, the Daily Mail reported that liberal states such as California are losing over $600 million in tax revenue due to migration.
California ranks first with $343 million leaving the state, followed by New York with $300 million. In contrast, the influx of migrants has contributed $24 billion to the finances of the conservative states of Florida and Texas.
The pandemic accelerated the transition from blue to red states, as states such as California and New York enacted the strictest quarantine restrictions in the United States and maintained them for a substantially longer duration than conservative states.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 319,000 Americans relocated to Florida due to its low tax rate in 2017. In contrast, New York's high tax burden has resulted in a mass exodus of millionaires.
People have also fled California, which has a progressive tax system that relies primarily on affluent individuals and high rates of personal income tax. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the population of the state has decreased, with an estimated departure of 500,000 residents between April 2020 and July 2022.
After Florida's assistance in conveying migrants from the Texas border to Sacramento, California, tensions between the two governors increased, Daily Mail reported.
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