On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom faced off in a debate on Fox News. The two went back and forth on a variety of issues, including migration, taxes, abortion, crime rates, and COVID restrictions.
Listeners from Florida and California spoke about these issues Friday during a simulcast with The Florida Roundup and AirTalk, LAist’s daily news program.
Katie Thomas, who lives in Clay County, has a unique perspective on the two governors. Thomas was born in Los Angeles County and moved to Florida at 14 years old.
“These two governors can’t even be, like, compared because they just have two completely different situations in front of them. They can’t be judged by the state that they have, because the state that they have was there before they got there,” Thomas said.
“During COVID, during the pandemic, we were the freest state in this whole country. And I enjoyed that, my friends and relatives enjoyed that. Coming to visit me, they said they felt like they were leaving communist China and coming to the real America.”Caitlin Gunster
Other listeners had opposing views on how DeSantis has run the state. Caitlin Gunster, who moved to Florida in 2019 and is now in Sarasota, supported the early lifting of COVID restrictions.
“During COVID, during the pandemic, we were the freest state in this whole country. And I enjoyed that, my friends and relatives enjoyed that. Coming to visit me, they said they felt like they were leaving communist China and coming to the real America,” Gunster said.
Betsy Hadas from Oviedo, however, said there are misconceptions surrounding lockdowns in Florida.
“We absolutely were subjected to masks and many of the restrictions that businesses, it was up to some businesses to decide whether or not they would do that,” Hadas said.
While businesses like bars and nightclubs closed for 30 days in March 2020, others such as restaurants remained open with limited capacity. DeSantis also did not close beaches statewide, according to Sam Putterman, the Florida government reporter for PolitiFact.
READ MORE: Fact-checking Newsom-DeSantis debate: Immigration, abortion, book bans and a poop map
The pandemic ended up affecting Hadas’ children.
“Public schools were closed. This had a huge impact on both of my sons, and when the pandemic lockdowns are mentioned, I feel like schools are not talked about very much, or it's implied that somehow schools in Florida stayed open," Hadas said. "That's absolutely not the case.”
Hadas also addressed housing in Florida, saying DeSantis has done little to nothing to deal with rising costs.
“The choice for many people here – increasingly for myself – is to move to another state (if you can find a buyer for your home, which is problematic) or become homeless.”George Dauphin
“It’s hugely increased in just the past couple of years," Hadas said. "I myself have covered a $900 increase with no end in sight to that. That’s on top of my taxes going up from my home as well.”
George Dauphin, a condo owner in Margate, echoed those sentiments in an email.
“Since Gov. DeSantis, our maintenance has been raised four times. I now pay $505 for a one-bed, one-bath. My cousin has a two-bed, two-bath in a very trendy neighborhood in Hollywood, California. He pays $500 for his maintenance, $5 less than me. His condo includes a private 2-car garage, with washer and dryer. I have none of that, among other advantages.”
Dauphin said those who moved to Florida for affordability were tricked — and are now stuck.
“The choice for many people here — increasingly for myself — is to move to another state (if you can find a buyer for your home, which is problematic) or become homeless,” Dauphin said.
During Thursday’s event, Newsom said more Floridians have been moving to California than the other way around in recent years. Putterman said the claim is correct if measuring per capita, although the difference is so small, experts have questioned whether it’s a meaningful statistic.
Thomas, however, would prefer to stay in Florida rather than return to California.
“No, I wouldn't move back. And it's because it takes forever to build anything out there. Anything, absolutely anything,” Thomas said, referring to the speed of development in California compared to Florida.
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