{"id":346256,"date":"2026-06-04T09:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346256\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T09:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:05:16","slug":"republican-steve-hilton-wants-to-upset-democrats-in-race-to-replace-californias-newsom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346256\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Steve Hilton wants to upset Democrats in race to replace California’s Newsom"},"content":{"rendered":"

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Steve Hilton<\/a> has painted California as a state bursting with potential that has lost its way under Democratic leadership in his bid to be the state\u2019s first Republican governor in more than 15 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a responsibility to revive California so it is once again that symbol of everything that is great about our nation: energy and optimism and ambition,\u201d he said Tuesday in an election night<\/a> speech in Southern California.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he remained optimistic he would have the chance to take that message to the general election as vote counting continued. California puts all candidates on the same ballot<\/a> regardless of party and two advance to the November election. <\/p>\n

The Associated Press had not called the primary for any candidate as of Wednesday evening. Hilton held a 2 percentage-point lead over Democrat Xavier Becerra<\/a> and nearly an 8-point lead over Democrat Tom Steyer<\/a> as of Wednesday evening, though both Democrats gained a few thousand votes on Hilton after more than a dozen counties released additional results. <\/p>\n

Counties are expected to continue to release results over the next several weeks. The state has a history of substantial vote updates after Election Day<\/a> that can sometimes shift the outcome of elections as late-arriving mail and drop-off votes are counted. <\/p>\n

Hilton, who has never held elected office, has promised to be a disruptor to the state\u2019s political order, which he said has failed Californians struggling to afford life in the notoriously expensive state. He is a relative newcomer not just to the state\u2019s political scene, but to California itself. He migrated to the state in 2012 from the United Kingdom, where he was an adviser to Conservative Party officials including former Prime Minister David Cameron. He had a show on Fox News from 2017 to 2023 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021.<\/p>\n

If he advances to November, Hilton faces an uphill battle in a state that hasn\u2019t had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011, and where Democrats make up 45% of registered voters compared to Republicans\u2019 25%. He said he is confident he can beat those odds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people say, \u2018How are you going to win in California as a Republican?\u2019 My question is, how will a Democrat win based on the record that they are putting before the people?\u201d he told reporters outside the state Capitol on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

He is pledging to lower prices on everything from gas to housing, reduce income taxes, create a loan program for first-time homebuyers, and freeze in-state tuition at public colleges. <\/p>\n

He faces another obstacle to winning over voters who don\u2019t typically vote Republican: President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know Steve \u2014 He is a hard driving WINNER, and he will turn California around, quickly \u2014 and the Federal Government will be there, with him, to help!\u201d Trump said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Hilton thanked Trump for his words, saying Wednesday on X that \u201cchange is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that endorsement likely helped him consolidate support among Republicans in the primary, it could be a liability in November given the president\u2019s deep unpopularity in a state that he has routinely made a punching bag. On debate stages and in speeches throughout the primary, Hilton hasn\u2019t emphasized Trump\u2019s support since he won it in April. But he said he looks forward to having a friendly partner in Washington should he win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about, what does that endorsement mean for the practical things we can get?\u201d Hilton said Wednesday, adding that he would work with the federal government to try to lower gas prices and cut wasteful spending in government so the state can reduce taxes.<\/p>\n

The candidate\u2019s promise to return the state to an unspecified golden age when most people were better off is not dissimilar to Trump\u2019s ubiquitous pledge to \u201cMake America Great Again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the primary, Hilton fought for Republican votes against GOP hopeful Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff.<\/p>\n

In the race\u2019s final days, Hilton warned of the possibility that Becerra and Steyer could advance to the general election, shutting out Republicans. Becerra throughout his campaign touted his decades of political experience as proof he could lead, while Steyer leaned on his history of progressive advocacy to demonstrate how he would deliver for families trying to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

But neither candidate would disrupt the status quo after years of Democratic rule, Hilton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe progressive experiment in governance \u2014 we can see the results. It\u2019s a disappointment all around,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how much longer we have to wait for this experiment to actually work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Steve Hilton has painted California as a state bursting with potential that has lost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1400,4302,7,9,8,28687,112817,536,38580,989,18,16640,69320,26851,13,17382,25299,6140,17,6141,3707],"class_list":["post-346256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-2026-elections","tag-arnold-schwarzenegger","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-chad-bianco","tag-david-cameron","tag-donald-trump","tag-education-costs","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-government-budgets","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-political-endorsements","tag-politics","tag-steve-hilton","tag-tom-steyer","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346256","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=346256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}