![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_9158_SteveHilton_HA_260407.JPG\" "\\"California")
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California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton talks about his \u201cCalifordable\u201d Plan and the affordability crisis near the west steps of the Capitol on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n
HECTOR AMEZCUA<\/p>\n
hamezcua@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
An underdog in the race for California governor, Republican Steve Hilton is beginning his general election campaign with a pitch directly to voters who dislike President Donald Trump in ads released Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In an ad published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Hilton acknowledges that he\u2019s a Republican and \u201cFox News guy\u201d \u2014 a former anchor of a weekly show on the network \u2014 who was endorsed by Trump in April. But he characterizes himself as a problem-solver rather than ideologue who can solve the state\u2019s affordability crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to like Trump,\u201d the ad says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to become a Republican. You just have to ask yourself: Does it make sense to vote the same way and expect a different result?\u201d<\/p>\n
TV versions of the ad will also be released this week as Hilton kicks off his general election campaign with an event targeting working class Latino voters held near the site of last month\u2019s warehouse fire in Boyle Heights<\/a>. He\u2019ll appear alongside Gloria Romero, a former state senator and Democrat who is now running as a GOP hopeful for lieutenant governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Public Policy Institute of California poll released last week<\/a> found that 61% of California likely voters backed Democrat Xavier Becerra compared to 36% who backed Hilton. Other recent polls have also found a narrow majority of voters believe California is on the wrong track, a constituency Hilton has argued he can win.<\/p>\n Becerra\u2019s spokesperson Jonathan Underland said voters weary of high gas and food prices \u201cwon\u2019t find salvation in Donald Trump\u2019s disciple.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSteve Hilton cheers on a president whose illegal war has sent gas prices soaring and illegal tariffs have cost California families more than $2,500 this year alone,\u201d Underland said in a statement. \u201cYou can\u2019t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton\u2019s challenge is compounded by Trump\u2019s approval ratings, which PPIC clocked at 28% among likely California voters. PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare said Hilton\u2019s early general election push \u2014 far ahead of the traditional Labor Day weekend \u2014 and outreach to anti-Trump voters signaled he understood the headwinds he faces in blue-hued California.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of people to convince,\u201d Baldassare said.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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