“Our governor, Gavin Newsom, attacks Florida,” a woman’s voice solemnly intones. “But here’s what he’s doing to us in California. We pay $1.65 more for a gallon of gas than you do. Our electricity rates are twice as high as yours. … California can’t afford Gavin Newsom’s ambition. Can Florida?”
Kevin Slagle, vice president of strategic communications for the Western States Petroleum Association, told me it spent “a little more than $100,000” to run ads for two weeks on Miami TV stations and to place periodic full-page ads in the Miami Herald. “The number one thing with why we’re in Florida is because we’re trying to get the governor’s attention. And the governor is focused in Florida andand other states right now. … But, here in California, there’s real critical issues.
But airing ads in Florida isn’t the only quirk of California campaigns. Due in part to the structure of the Golden State’s