Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
California governor goes to Texas as his national profile rises
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom was venturing into the territory of one of his chief political foils this weekend by traveling to Texas while seeking to boost his own profile amid a noncompetitive re-election campaign back home.
Newsom is on his way to an easy victory for a second term as governor of the nation’s most populous state, facing a little known and underfunded Republican challenger one year after defeating a recall attempt.
With little pressure at home, Newsom has been looking elsewhere to spend some of the $23 million he has in his campaign account. So far, he has bought TV ads in Florida urging people to move to California, newspaper ads in Texas decrying the state’s lax gun laws and billboards in seven conservative states — including Texas — urging women to come to California if they need an abortion.
Now, Newsom was to speak at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, billed as a talk “on what the nation’s most populous state can teach the other 49 — including (Texas).”
Newsom’s actions come after he blamed his own political p arty for being too soft, urging them to stand up more firmly in light of recent conservative victories at the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned federal abortion protections and loosened restrictions on guns.
Newsom spent most of this week in New York City, speaking at various climate change conferences while taking time to poke conservative governors he says are “doubling down on stupid.” He specifically called out Texas Republican Gov.
Greg Abbot on Tuesday during a brief interview at the Clinton Global Initiative, saying he and other Republican governors are “as dumb as they want to (be).”
Last week, Newsom asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Abbot and Florida Gov. Ron Desantis tor transporting migrants to other states, something Newsom called “disgraceful.” Desantis dismissed Newsom’s request at a news conference, saying Newsom’s “hair gel is interfering with his brain function.”