The red-blue showdown policy wonks have been waiting for is happening.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis will square off with California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a debate hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity on Nov. 30, the network announced Monday.
The made-for-cable-news-event will take place at a location to be determined in the swing state of Georgia.
The two governors have taunted and circled each other for months. Back in June, Hannity pitched a verbal bout between the two political titans during an interview with Newsom and the pair quickly signed on in public while their teams hashed out the details behind the scenes.
“I’m looking forward to providing viewers with an informative debate about the everyday issues and governing philosophies that impact the lives of every American,” Hannity said in a statement.
“Decline is a choice and success is attainable. As President, I will lead America’s revival. I look forward to the opportunity to debate Gavin Newsom over our very different visions for the future of our country,” DeSantis posted on X, formerly Twitter, complete with a video billing the clash as “Revival vs. Decline.”
Both men have styled themselves avatars of two divergent visions of American politics, with DeSantis ripping Newsom over California’s high taxes, homelessness and crime.
“I mean in one respect, the debate between California and Florida has already been had, as you suggest. People have been voting on that,” DeSantis told Hannity back in August. “They’ve been voting on it with their feet. They have fled California in record numbers.”
Newsom, for his part, has hit DeSantis over bans on critical race theory in classrooms, prohibition of instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity for kids in kindergarten through the fourth grade and restrictions on abortion.
Back in April, Newsom jetted down to DeSantis’ home turf to condemn changes enacted at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
DeSantis had sought to root out “wokeism’”and liberal excesses by replacing the board of that small public institution.
The Florida governor will be in the Golden State Wednesday for the second 2024 primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.
Republicans will hold their third debate in Miami Nov. 8, a date which was initially floated for the DeSantis-Newsom showdown.
DeSantis has kept up a packed campaign itinerary in recent weeks, barnstorming early states with a particular focus on Iowa.
Newsom has long triggered buzz about mounting a last-minute bid to be the Democratic standard bearer.
However, he has stubbornly denied any plans to do so and heartily backed President Biden.
DeSantis is the second-highest polling Republican after former President Donald Trump, who leads him by a whopping 43.8 percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics average.
Newsom has repeatedly needled his Florida counterpart over the deficit, telling Politico earlier this month that DeSantis had “belly-flopped.”
“The best thing that could happen to DeSantis,” the California Democrat said at the time, “is tomorrow, he packs it in and keeps his money and fights another day.”