Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom is continuing his efforts to make abortion a main component of his political legacy in new campaign television ads across the state.
The current governor is initiating his first television spots of the California election — not in promotion of himself, but rather of an initiative that will go before voters on the ballot this fall. The ad buy was $2.5 million. The initial ad is part of a broader $5 million television ad push, and it is considered a donation in favor of the measure.
For the next two weeks, Californians will see advertisements from Newsom telling them to support Proposition 1, which would add the right to abortion and birth control in the California constitution.
On Twitter, alongside an ad, Newsom wrote, “Across the country, clinics that provide abortions are being shut down by extreme [GOP] politicians. Fundamental freedoms are vanishing. Women are under attack. This November, we say NOT here.”
Across the country, clinics that provide abortions are being shut down by extreme @GOP politicians.
Fundamental freedoms are vanishing. Women are under attack.
This November, we say NOT here.
Prop 1 will enshrine reproductive rights in the CA constitution.
Vote YES on Prop 1. pic.twitter.com/lo0WoaLe4a
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 10, 2022
According to the California voter information guide, voting yes on the proposition would mean “[t]he California Constitution would be changed to expressly include existing rights to reproductive freedom—such as the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion and use contraceptives.”
Newsom has long promoted abortion in the state, and even previously supported making California a safe haven for women to travel from out of state to get an abortion.
“The idea that we are proactively codifying statute — that we are going on the offense — is something from my perspective to celebrate and to highlight and not just dial-in and take for granted,” Newsom told Politico.
“The better we do on this, the more intensity, the more we dial it up, I also think it sends a message that reverberates across our borders,” Newsom said. “If a significant majority come out and vote for Prop. 1, it sends a message to states that didn’t do anything this year — ‘Why didn’t you? Where were you?’ — and to take this moment seriously and get ahead of the next round of Supreme Court decisions. Let’s dust off any timidity here and apathy and take seriously the world we’re living in.”
Newsom’s Republican opponent in the race for governor of the Golden State is Brian Dahle, whose campaign has garnered over $2 million in comparison to Newsom’s campaign stores, which had over $23 million as of late last month.
“Gavin Newsom wants to be president. He’s out there talking about it,” Dahle said at a fundraiser in September. “He’s not focused on this race, and we’re going to come in from the backside, with God’s help, and we’re going to win.”