(Inside California Politics) — Fresh off a pair of polls showing him narrowly atop a crowded field of governor candidates, Republican hopeful Steve Hilton told Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo that Californians are fed up with 16 years of Democratic dominance.

“Everyone can see it’s time for change, time for some balance in our politics,” he said in a one-on-one interview. “I think that’s what’s being reflected in all of these different polls.”

A former Fox News commentator and advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Hilton has led in several recent polls — though each survey shows a muddled race with no clear frontrunner.

Hilton weighed in on the state’s top-two primary system — something he believes should be abolished. This year, though, it’s also a structure that could lead to two Republicans advancing if Democrats don’t rally behind a frontrunner.

Although it’s mathematically possible, Hilton said he doubts both he and Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco advance to the general election.

“I think it’s much more likely you’ll get two Democrats, because the Republicans right now are splitting the vote,” he said.

If Hilton advances to the general election, he said there’s not a preferred Democratic opponent he would like to face.

“I have to be honest, they’re not particularly impressive candidates,” he said. “None of them, it seems to me, are laying out with any kind of clarity or conviction the kind of change we need in California.”

Discussing Democratic candidate Matt Mahan, Hilton said he doesn’t believe the moderate mayor had made positive changes to San Jose during a recent visit to the Bay Area city — “I always think it’s important to be polite,” he said.

“I’m always interested in learning and I want to see what works,” Hilton said. “And I went with Matt. We had a very nice visit. I like him personally, by the way.”

He also criticized Bianco, including for a viral video of the law enforcement leader taking a knee with activists during protests against police brutality in 2020.

“I’m afraid Chad has got more baggage than LAX,” Hilton said. “There’s a lot of baggage there, including his positions on immigration that are very different to mine. And I think that that will be used by the Democrat machine to get Republican voters to stay home.”

Hilton said he is friends with President Donald Trump and “half the cabinet,” relationships he believes would benefit California. While some Republicans shy away from associations with the president, Hilton said he would welcome a potential endorsement from Trump.

“It would be an honor,” he said. “Look, I’m a proud American, a new American citizen. To have the support of the president would be incredible. But he does not do well in California.”

If elected, Hilton said he would have “real aggression” to tackle what he described as a government bloated by bureaucracy.

Government efficiency is a major part of Hilton’s platform, including his organization CalDOGE — the California Department of Government Efficiency. He believes waste, fraud and abuse are rampant across the state’s spending.

In the wide-ranging interview, Hilton slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats for the state’s ballooning budget and discussed his proposal for a flat tax of 7.5% plus an exemption for the first $100,000 in income.

“That’s a reduction in state revenue of 18.5%, which is a big reduction — but actually it takes the budget back to what it was just a couple of years ago,” Hilton said. “It’s not some crazy outlandish scheme that we’ve never heard anything like before.”

An abbreviated version of Nikki Laurenzo’s interview with Steve Hilton aired on Inside California Politics, and the full version can be found below.

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