After the polls closed and early votes were counted for the California gubernatorial race late Tuesday night, Republican candidate Steve Hilton held a press conference on the west steps of the California Capitol Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
The latest counts<\/a> show Hilton as the top vote-getter for the state, followed closely by top Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the next few months,\u201d Hilton said to the assembled press. \u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019re thrilled about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton received an endorsement from President Donald Trump in April. According to the Public Policy Institute of California<\/a>, 70% of Californians disapprove of Trump. Hilton said that he wasn\u2019t worried about Trump\u2019s disapproval rating impacting his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s going to be very helpful for Californians to have a governor who has a good working relationship with the president and his team,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cIt happens to be that we see eye-to-eye on many of the issues that are going to help Californians in a very practical way.\u201d<\/p>\n Insight host Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Republican political strategist Rob Stutzman Wednesday afternoon. Stutzman said that an endorsement from Trump helped reach Republican voters, but it wasn\u2019t the only thing convincing conservative voters they should vote for Hilton over fellow Republican candidate Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they were looking for a signal on who they should be picking between Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, Trump\u2019s endorsement certainly was important,\u201d Stutzman said. \u201cI think Hilton was going to win this anyway, even without that endorsement. He was a better candidate, he had a better organized campaign\u2026 He\u2019s been working at it longer and probably working at it harder.\u201d<\/p>\n While results are still not certified, Hilton expressed confidence that his name will be on the ballot for the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think most people believe now that it’s very hard to see a situation where either of the two Democrats \u2026 who are in contention for those spots both overtake the votes that we\u2019ve seen over the last night,\u201d Hilton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Hilton may make it on the ballot, Stutzman said that it would be an uphill battle for Hilton to win the governor’s seat in November.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, only about 38% of the vote\u2019s going to go to Republicans, so still a tough hill to climb for Steve Hilton,\u201d Stutzman said. \u201cRepublicans haven\u2019t had a really good nominee for governor in a long time\u2026 Hilton\u2019s going to breathe a little energy into Republican voters who are very tired of not being able to win anything. I\u2019m not sure he can bring home a victory.\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton said that he wants to work with Democrats in order to change California. He focused on addressing housing and education.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to working with everyone to bring change to California. Republicans, and beyond the Republican Party,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cMatt Mahan and I see things in very much the same way in policy terms\u2026 We\u2019ve got to have common sense, practical policies to make life better in California.\u201d<\/p>\n