Gavin Newsom dropped $230K to troll Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott. Here’s how much more he can spend

Gov. Gavin Newsom spent about $230,000 on ads and billboards blasting Republican governors in other states and has $23.2 million available in his campaign account in the final weeks of his re-election campaign.

A new campaign finance report shows the governor spent a total of $2.8 million, including campaign meetings at some restaurants in Washington, D.C., and New York City, during the July 1 to Sept. 24 period covered by the report.

Newsom, who received $2.1 million in contributions during that period, is a strong favorite to defeat Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle in the Nov. 8 election.

The report shows the campaign spent $28,181 on print ads in July in the Houston Chronicle, El Paso Times and Austin American-Statesman challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s abortion policy.

The ad takes on an Abbott statement that he made when he signed an anti-abortion law. “Our creator endowed us with the right to life. And yet … children lose their right to life every year because of abortion. In Texas, we work to save those lives.”

Newsom’s ad crossed out the word “abortion” and instead wrote “gun violence.” Instead of “Texas,” Newsom wrote “California.”

The ad explains, “These were Governor Abbott’s words when he signed SB 8 into law essentially banning abortion in the state of Texas. Today Governor Newsom signed SB 1327, California’s answer to Texas’ perverse bill that placed bounties on doctors and patients.”

It adds that “If Governor Abbott truly wants to protect the right to life, we urge him to follow California’s lead.”

Newsom spent $100,000 on a July 4 Florida TV ad that ran on Fox stations in the state.

“It’s Independence Day, so let’s talk about what’s going on in America. Freedom. It’s under attack in your state. Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors,” Newsom says in the 30-second spot.

He spent another $100,000 in September on billboards in seven states that have restricted abortion to promote California’s new abortion access website, abortion.CA.gov.

Meeting at posh sites

The governor visited Washington in July and New York City earlier this month. In Washington, he talked with lawmakers about wildfires, gun violence and other topics. In New York, he attended the Clinton Global Initiative meeting on climate action.

While in those cities, Newsom did “meet and greets” with supporters, said campaign spokesman Nathan Click.

The report shows that while in Washington July 12, Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom are listed as attending a campaign meeting at the Quill in the Jefferson Hotel. Cost was $364.70.

Two days later, another campaign meeting at the Quill cost $321.40.

The Quill is one of the city’s most elegant restaurants. Entrees go as high as the $64 for the Martin’s Farm Prime Filet Mignon, though a Fettuccine Bolognese with Black Angus Beef, Mirepoix, Pomodoro Sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano can be had for $29. No word on what Newsom may have had or whether he ate at campaign expense.

That same day, two more campaign meeting expenses are listed for the nearby St. Regis Hotel costing the campaign $1,357.36.

While in New York, Newsom and his wife stayed at the Thompson Central Park Hotel from Sept. 19 to 22, costing the campaign $1,390. The hotel boasts that “poised on the southern edge of Central Park, our Billionaires’ Row locale is a short walk to Carnegie Hall,”

The day after Newsom’s speech, the campaign lists “officeholder travel” expenses at New York’s Quality Bistro at a cost of $2.549 for 13 people. The same day, more officeholder travel, this time at Le Grande Boucherie, cost $472.

Among the local campaign events were a meeting at Sacramento’s Moxie Restaurant. The report lists expenses of $214 plus an “office expense” of $169 for appetizers.