CALIFORNIA, USA — The hotly anticipated showdown between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis comes to fruition Thursday evening.
The debate is a nationally televised event for the two high-profile leaders. Both have presidential aspirations and face the chance they might have wait for future cycles to realize them.
Newsom has openly spoken about eventually running for president but is backing President Joe Biden’s reelection in 2024.
DeSantis entered the 2024 GOP presidential race as the perceived top challenger to Donald Trump but has so far failed to dent the former president’s commanding early lead in the party’s primary.
Their debate is set for 90 minutes and will take place at a studio in Alpharetta, Georgia, north of Atlanta, a location chosen for its key swing-state implications. There won't be an audience, but the moderator is Fox host Sean Hannity, who has sparred with Newsom during past television appearances.
However, for Newsom, the event does beg the question of who exactly is paying for him to attend the debate nearly 2,500 miles away from California's capital city.
While it's not clear at this time who exactly is paying for the travel, the governor's office confirmed it isn't the California taxpayers.
"The Governor’s travel to Georgia is not in his official capacity and is NOT at taxpayer expense," a spokesperson for the governor's office told ABC10 in an email.
Newsom faced similar questions about travel when he visited China earlier this year. The trip was funded by a nonprofit called the California State Protocol Foundation, which is based in Oakland.
The debate between the two governor's takes place at 6 p.m. on Fox News.
ABC10 also reached out to Campaign for Democracy PAC for comment on his debate prep but hasn't heard back as of publication.