There’s a lot to like about Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

She was a joy to watch during her time as then-President Donald Trump’s press secretary with the way she handled the left-wing press corps without breaking a sweat. Then there was the infamous Red Hen incident, where she came out smelling like a rose and her unhinged critics were once again left frustrated and fuming.

Just a few short years later, she ran for governor of her home state of Arkansas and won, following in the footsteps of her father and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran the state from 1996 to 2007.

And though she’s got a long way to go, she’s kicked bootie so far in her first year in office, implementing a bold conservative agenda that is parent/people-centered instead of bureaucrat-centered.

So it only stands to reason that when Sanders does interviews that she makes sure to give a welcome message for the tens of thousands of people who are fleeing to red states like Arkansas, Texas, and Florida from blue ones like California and New York. But the message comes with a pointed caveat: Leave the liberal politics behind.

During a Monday exchange on Fox News, Sanders reiterated that very point, and in the process again shaded California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has made it his mission over the last year or so to stick his nose into other states’ business in a hopeless effort to make his look better by comparison:

There’s a reason Arkansas is the fifth-highest state for inbound movers.

All-time low unemployment rate. Low taxes. Historic investments in education & public safety.

We are open for business – just don’t forget why you left California in the first place. pic.twitter.com/2dJLiO5uya

— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) July 25, 2023

That is the number one complaint I hear from people, including conservatives here in North Carolina, about the exodus from Democrat-run states to Republican-run ones: Don’t move here and bring along with you the very type of far-left political beliefs that helped turned your former state into an expensive, crime-ridden, woke dumpster fire.

In fact, I’m the type of conservative that has been downright unwelcoming on the issue:

I don't mind transplants coming here as long as they don't push for the same destructive policies they voted for in their home states. I'm a welcoming kind of person but only to a point. cc: @APDillon_ https://t.co/RkI7GXAWYY

— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) November 7, 2018

While Gov. Sanders is smart enough not to deliver a message like that out loud, in my opinion it was implicit in what she did say, because I think it is inarguable at this point that the more influx a red state has from blue states, the sooner that state starts turning purple – and then blue – if they don’t watch it and effectively counter it by holding firm to conservative principles.

Leaders in these red states should consider the wise words of advice from my RedState colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell, who has left California behind but who will help make the state she moved to even redder:

Look out middle and southern U.S., the upstarts are invading your states. Better start some reeducation programs at the border to ensure they leave behind the mores and habits that ruined the state they’re fleeing.

Indeed. And that’s just for starters…

Flashback: Reporter Calls Gavin Newsom’s Bluff on ‘Criminality’ Allegation Against Ron DeSantis