by Kenneth Schrupp
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have agreed to participate in a debate hosted by Sean Hannity on Fox News, pitting two younger, Generation X governors seen as standard bearers of their respective parties against each other for 90 minutes.
First discussed between Newsom and Hannity when Newsom was interviewed by Hannity in June, the proposal was made into an official request by Newsom’s office last week, according to Politico, with suggested dates for November 8 or 10.
When Hannity asked DeSantis on air whether or not he’d debate Newsom, DeSantis was quick to commit, saying, “Absolutely. I’m game. Let’s get it done. Just tell me when and where. We’ll do it.”
The debate comes at a pivotal time for the two men, with DeSantis falling behind former president Donald Trump and attempting to reboot his campaign, and with Newsom increasingly positioning himself as a super-surrogate–or even replacement candidate-in-waiting–for President Joseph Biden.
In the spring, Newsom toured conservative states across the sunbelt with excess leftover money from his gubernatorial race to buttress and strengthen ties with local Democrats, further raising his national profile. According to the most recent approval poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, Newsom maintains a 57% approval rating, below his 65% peak in May of 2020 but well above his low of 44% in 2019.
DeSantis holds similar approval ratings as governor of Florida, holding steady at 54%, with 41% of voters polled saying they strongly approve of his management of the state. However, his presidential candidacy seems to be stalling, with the current average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics placing him at just 18.1% of Republican primary voters to Trump’s 53.9%.
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Kenneth Schrupp is the California reporter for The Center Square. His commentary and analysis have been published by Newsweek, RealClearPolitics, and the Pacific Research Institute.
Background Photo “Debate Stage” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 3.0.
@Dr Ken: Publicity (if anyone will watch it). President Trump will likely hold a rally at the same time and drain any viewership
Why? To what ends? With the mess Newsome made in California it is extremely unlikely he would be the democrat party nominee. Then again, that cult sent the feeble Joe Biden to represent their ticket. What would Newsome promote? The middle class is fleeing California, in fact they lost two congressional seats due to population decline. Crime is rampant, the cities of SF, LA and SD are cesspools. He could talk about the economy but he had absolutely nothing to do with it’s expanse. That solely rests with agriculture and he is doing his best to shut them down as well. Why would DeSantis debate the village idiot? It makes no sense. I have read in California newspapers that Newsome rejected any idea of a debate.