{"id":345929,"date":"2026-06-04T03:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T03:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345929\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T03:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T03:51:15","slug":"republicans-unveil-victory-26-slate-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345929\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans unveil Victory \u201926 slate in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

The California Republican Party emerged from Tuesday\u2019s primary<\/a> by announcing a coalition of candidates who promise that if elected in November will stem the flight of \u201cnuts, fruits, and grown children\u201d leaving the Golden State in search of lower taxes and cheaper mortgages.<\/p>\n

Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host<\/a> currently leading the governor\u2019s race<\/a>, appeared at state GOP headquarters in Sacramento on Wednesday wearing his usual business suit with no tie. Flanked by party chair Corrin Rankin, he announced the \u201cVictory \u201826\u201d slate, which features him and GOP-endorsed candidates for each of the state\u2019s 8 executive offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democratic Party in California has had 16 years to show that their ideas work well,\u201d Hilton told reporters. \u201cWe\u2019re still waiting. We have the highest poverty rate in the country, the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states, the highest cost of living by far, intractable problems that just seem to get worse the more money that we spend on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of 4:44 a.m. Wednesday<\/a>, Hilton was leading the governor\u2019s race with nearly 28%, though results will not be certified for days to come. The Associated Press estimates about 54% of votes<\/a> have been counted. That lead could shrink as Democrats held on to their mail-in ballots longer than usual this cycle. Late returns could shift the results to either boost leading Democrat Xavier Becerra, or his rival, Tom Steyer, who was trailing at third with 20% of the vote.<\/p>\n

\"Republican Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton attends the California Republican Party’s launch of Victory ’26 after election day at the California Republican Party headquarters in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly 2:1 ratio<\/a> in California, but the GOP has tried to capitalize on simmering consternation with high cost of living and homelessness to break the Democrats\u2019 decade long hold on the Legislature and governor\u2019s mansion.<\/p>\n

Rankin cited a recent survey showing 57% of Californians believed the state was on the wrong track<\/a>, calling it a \u201cprecipice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re offering is a viable option to the one-party rule. Who you see before you today are your neighbors, and they want a better California,\u201d she said. \u201cWho you see behind me is the other direction, a better direction. People who care about California, who want to make our state golden again, who want to continue to have our children live in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Victory \u201826 slate featured a mix of ideologies from moderates like state controller candidate Herb Morgan to state superintendent hopeful Sonja Shaw, the Chino Valley culture warrior who rose out of the state\u2019s parental rights movement<\/a> at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Like Rankin, Secretary of State contender Don Wagner also blamed the state\u2019s affordability issues on the Democrats\u2019 \u201cone-party rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gotten us to a place where our three biggest exports are fruits, nuts and grown children,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to change that, and change starts right here at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Hilton, it was Shaw, clad in ruby-red sparkly kitten heels reminiscent of Dorthy Gale, who earned the loudest cheers when she promised to stop transgender female athletes from playing on girls\u2019 sports teams. She pledged to reverse that by teaming up with GOP Attorney General contender Michael Gates to overturn state anti-discrimination laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith me as state superintendent<\/a>, that\u2019s going to change on day one. We\u2019re going to make sure there\u2019s no more boys in girls\u2019 locker rooms and on their sports teams,\u201d she said. \u201cThat ends, especially when I have Michael Gates by my side, making sure that parents have their constitutional rights in their child\u2019s own education, and reading and writing and math are the focus and the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Hilton carries the endorsement of President Donald Trump, who congratulated him for his performance Tuesday night, the wonkish former British government adviser tried to strike a conciliatory tone. He said he wanted to reach all voters, regardless of party affiliation, who were frustrated with the status quo.<\/p>\n

\"Republican Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks during the California Republican Party’s launch of Victory ’26 after election day at the California Republican Party headquarters in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you saw in the governor\u2019s race, there are points of agreement between some of us,\u201d Hilton told reporters.<\/p>\n

He said former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter adopted his tax plan during her unsuccessful bid for governor. And said he agreed with some of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan\u2019s proposals to remove regulations hampering housing construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re good points, and so I would welcome anyone as part of what I think of as a change alliance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That also includes Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who had not conceded as of midday Wednesday, though Hilton said he was confident the two would speak soon.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 3:14 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Lia Russell<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Lia Russell covers California\u2019s governor for The Sacramento Bee\u2019s Capitol Bureau. Originally from San Francisco, Lia previously worked for The Baltimore Sun and the Bangor Daily News in Maine.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Republican Party emerged from Tuesday\u2019s primary by announcing a coalition of candidates who promise that if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-345929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}