By Maggie Astor | New York Times
Since September, Gavin Newsom, California’s ambitious, proudly liberal governor, has been tauntingly challenging Ron DeSantis, the ambitious, proudly conservative governor of Florida, to a debate. He would even agree, he said, to let the right-wing Fox News host Sean Hannity moderate.
On Wednesday, DeSantis accepted.
“You heard Gavin make the offer,” Hannity said on his show. “Your answer is?”
“Absolutely,” a smiling DeSantis replied. “I’m game. Let’s get it done. Just tell me when and where.”
In a letter last week, Newsom outlined his proposed terms: a date of Nov. 8 or 10; a location in Georgia, Nevada or North Carolina; and a focus “on the impact of representation at the state level.”
Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement late Wednesday: “November 8th or 10th. DeSantis should put up or shut up. Anything else is just games.”
Such an event would, perhaps, be a mutually agreeable proposition for two men eager for as much attention as they can get.
Newsom has made no secret of the fact that he is interested in running for president, perhaps as soon as 2028. And DeSantis’ own presidential campaign is being drowned out by the inescapable presence of former President Donald Trump, who led him by more than 35 percentage points in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll on the Republican primary, and whose three criminal indictments have dominated the news for months.
DeSantis and Newsom have sought to present themselves as the platonic ideal of a governor of their party, and their state as a haven.
DeSantis has moved Florida sharply to the right, signing laws that ban abortion after six weeks and restrict transgender rights, and advertising his rejection of public health measures during the pandemic. Newsom has signed extensive climate measures, sought to make California a “sanctuary” for abortion access for people from out of state and recently called for a constitutional amendment to enact gun regulations.
Last year, Newsom ran ads in Florida telling voters there, “Freedom is under attack in your state.” In June, DeSantis accused Newsom of having a “fixation” on Florida and dared him to announce a primary challenge to President Joe Biden.
From the perspective of the current presidential race, though, Newsom is not exactly the sparring partner DeSantis would prefer. The man he actually needs to defeat to have a chance of becoming president Trump is threatening to skip the Republican debate this month.
This story originally appeared in the New York Times: