CA Republican Steve Hilton Pitches Vote Despite Trump Dislike

Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, launched his general election campaign on Wednesday with a strategy to appeal to left-leaning voters by downplaying his connection to former President Donald Trump. Speaking at an event in Los Angeles, Hilton presented a platform focused on reducing the state's high cost of living. He pledged to lower gasoline prices to $3 per gallon, halve utility bills, and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 of earnings. Hilton attributed California's challenges, including homelessness and low student test scores, to the Democratic Party, which holds all statewide offices and legislative supermajorities. He characterized Democrats as a "rotten regime that has abandoned the working class."

In his campaign remarks and newspaper advertisements, Hilton addressed his endorsement from Donald Trump. He stated, "This is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what we love about California and what we can do to make California once again the best place anywhere in the country to start and raise a family, to start and run a business." Hilton emphasized that the election's focus should be on improving California.

This approach aims to create a strategic distance from Trump without severing ties, acknowledging the political landscape in California. The state is heavily Democratic, with registered Republicans significantly outnumbered by Democratic voters. A Republican has not won a statewide election in California since 2006. Donald Trump remains unpopular in California, having lost the state by 30 points to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and by a substantial margin in 2020.