Gov. Gavin Newsom runs ads in Texas, escalating GOP jabs

By Romy Varghese | Bloomberg

California Governor Gavin Newsom is running full-page newspaper ads in Texas touting a new gun-limit law, the second time this month the Democrat has targeted residents of a conservative-led state.

On Friday, Newsom was set to sign a bill allowing Californians to sue those making, selling, transporting or distributing illegal assault weapons and ghost guns, legislation modeled after a Texas law letting people sue abortion providers.

The ad, running in the Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman and El Paso Times, uses Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s quote about abortion and tweaks it to be about guns.

“If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives,” Newsom, up for re-election in November, said in a statement from his campaign. “If Governor Abbott truly wants to protect the right to life, I urge him to follow California’s lead.”

Newsom, a politically ambitious former mayor of San Francisco, has been trying to position himself and liberal-leaning California as foils against Republican governors of Florida and Texas who champion conservative policies such as easing gun limits and restricting abortion access.

Earlier in July, Newsom aired television ads in Florida saying “freedom is under attack” in the state and calling on residents to fight against such measures, or come to California. He also toured Washington, D.C., stoking speculation about his presidential ambitions.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle in May that he has “sub-zero interest” in running for president in 2024.

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