Governor Gavin Newsom of California aired an ad in Florida over the holiday weekend of July 4 urging residents there to fight for freedom or move to their state in search of it.
Advertisement – has a blue status California against the red state that is now Florida – a testament to the growing divisions in America as Republican-led state legislatures have pursued right-wing policies on a range of issues from banning to attack LGBTQ+ rights and voting issues.
“Liberty is under attack in your state,” California’s Democratic leader said in the powerful ad, paid for by Newsom’s re-election campaign and broadcast on the right. Fox News channel.
“Republican leaders – They are banning books, making it harder to vote, limiting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors. I call on all of you to join the fight, or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom.”
Newsom appears to be attacking the far-right governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and his recent efforts to disenfranchise voters, abolish citizenship of the LGBTQ+ community, and restrict access to abortion. It is a picture of the current political landscape in America: two heads of state on opposite shores of the country with directly conflicting ideologies.
But Newsom’s fire-fighting strategy is an unusual one from the country’s democrats.
While Newsom has ruled out any interest in running for president in the near future, some speculate DeSantis, a right-wing supporter and favorite of Trump, will bid for the Party’s presidential nomination. Republic in 2024.
In April, after DeSantis signed the “no gay talk” law, the book was banned statewide. Florida’s Department of Education also rejected 41% of math textbooks that it believed promoted ideologies like critical race theory or social and emotional learning to “teaching students.”
Last year, DeSantis also signed more restrictive voting measures into the law, like limiting voting hours and requiring ballots by mail every year, instead of every four years. DeSantis said the restrictions would limit voter fraud, although there is little evidence to suggest such a problem.
And after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs Wade case, which gave US citizens the constitutional right to have an abortion, DeSantis signed a law that effectively bans abortions after 15 weeks without a consent. exceptions for rape or incest. A state judge temporarily blocked the law, calling it unconstitutional. But a DeSantis spokesman said the state plans to appeal the ruling.
In contrast, Newsom signed a bill that protects abortion providers in its state from liability or prosecution for providing out-of-state abortion services. California lawmakers also voted to ask voters on their November ballot to add an amendment to the state’s constitution that would explicitly protect reproductive rights.