Steve Hilton Advances in California Governor's Race

Republican Steve Hilton has advanced to the general election for California governor after making the case that the state desperately needs new leadership following more than 15 years of Democratic dominance. He'll face Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former state attorney general and Biden administration health secretary, whom the AP previously determined had won enough votes. Hilton faces a challenging electorate in the November election, as California has nearly twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.

• If elected, he would be the first GOP candidate to win statewide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. He thinks he can beat the odds. "My mission is clear: to go to Sacramento, clean up the corruption, cut your costs, help your business, and fix our schools," Hilton said in a statement.

"Xavier Becerra is the ultimate career politician. After 36 years in the political machine, his policies gave California the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate, and the highest cost of living in America. Now he promises 'no change' to those policies," Hilton said. The outcome means Democratic candidate Tom Steyer did not qualify for the November election. With almost 90% of the vote counted, Steyer, a billionaire who spent more than $200 million on his campaign, had around 22.5% of the vote, compared to 25% for Hilton and almost 28% for Becerra, per CNN.

• During the campaign, Hilton attacked Democrats over the state's high cost of living, the homelessness crisis, and other issues. He pledged to lower prices for everything from gas to housing; make Californians' first $100,000 free of income tax; create a loan program for first-time homebuyers; and freeze in-state tuition at public colleges.
• Hilton was endorsed in April by President Trump, which helped him consolidate support among Republican voters in the primary but could be a liability in the general election.
• Hilton, who has never held elected office, came to the United States 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 US citizen in 2021. Hilton often mentions his parents' experience fleeing communism in Hungary before migrating to the UK as a formative part of his family's history that helped shape his conservative worldview.