Newsom Buys Ad Space In Florida, DeSantis Campaign Responds

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) recently purchased ad space in Florida, prompting questions about his interest in a 2024 presidential run. 

Newsom’s re-election campaign bought approximately $105,000 in cable television ads that will air in the Sunshine State on Fox News beginning on July 4, as reported by SF Gate and Medium Buying’s Twitter account. 

Newsom for California Governor 2022 has placed ad spending on Fox News in FLORIDA cable zones for July 4th

— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) June 27, 2022

Dave Abrams, a spokesperson for Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign, told The Daily Wire, “Gavin Newsom might as well light a pile of cash on fire. Pass the popcorn for his desperate attempt to win back the California refugees who fled the hellhole he created in his state to come to Florida.” 

“The people of Florida pay no mind to the pathetic smear campaigns from the Democrats and their allies in the corporate media. We’re too busy enjoying the freedom Governor Ron DeSantis has created in the Sunshine State,” Abrams added. 

The two governors are both up for re-election in November and have been sniping at one another in recent months. The DeSantis campaign provided a link, as well, to mugs it is selling with the slogan, “I [heart] CA but I wish my governor was Ron DeSantis.”

The subject matter of the Newsom ads is unknown, but Nathan Click, one of Newsom’s re-election campaign spokespersons, told SF Gate “stay tuned” when questioned about it. 

The purchase has led many to wonder if Newsom is getting ready for a presidential bid, noting how he has said in the past that he has “subzero interest” in running for the highest office. 

Newsom has elevated himself and his state to a higher position in recent months, differentiating California from states with Republican leadership. Newsom has pushed for California to be a “sanctuary state” for women seeking abortions from out of state and touted gun legislation. 

He has also made a point to speak out against Republicans nationwide. Newsom recently tweeted, “The GOP’s America: the nation of gun care and health control.” He also posted on Twitter, “Extremist republicans across the nation are trying to eliminate fundamental American freedoms.”

The GOP’s America: the nation of gun care and health control.

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 25, 2022

NEW: Extremist republicans across the nation are trying to eliminate fundamental American freedoms.

Time to fight back.

-Voters will now have the chance to amend the state’s constitution to enshrine the right to choose.

-Signed a NEW Exec Order that protects women coming to CA pic.twitter.com/WhsmKvyPkJ

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 28, 2022

At a press conference following the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Newsom called out Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) and told people not to “give in to the cynicism and all the crap you heard today in that press conference around evil and mental health, [which] completely belies the fact that there’s only one nation on planet Earth that separates itself from all other nations, and that’s the United States of America, in the perversion of a Second Amendment that begins around ‘well-regulated’ gun policy.”

After the Supreme Court ruled on Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey last week, Newsom said the high court “want[s] to strip women of their liberty and let Republican states replace it with mandated birth,” saying that the justices want to go back to a time period “when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law.”

Newsom’s team did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this publication.

Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report. 

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