The conservative and businessman of Silicon Valley, Steve Hilton, announced on Monday that he runs for governor, the second prominent republican to enter the 2026 race to replace Democratic governor Gavin Newsom.
“We can’t continue like this,” Hilton said in an interview. “If we look at California, imagine another 15 years of this unique rule and the consequences of that are unthinkable.”
Hilton said he was obliged to run for his ability to climb the economic scale after his family emigrated to the United Kingdom and his fraen that this is no longer possible in California because the Democrats control the state.
“That dream has been taken away,” he said. “I feel very, very motivated to change that because I can see that people are suffering. People are desperate for change, crying for change.”
Hilton, who announced his campaign in a video published online and plans an official campaign announcement event at Huntington Beach on Tuesday and appearances throughout the state all week, faces strong probabilities. The Californians last elected state Republican candidates in 2006, and state residents have become more liberal since then. However, there is a growing frustration on issues such as crime, inflation and cost of living.
“We need to present a positive, attractive and practice vision of how we can solve problems,” said Hilton, adding that he believes that the Californians would join around nideological and non -partisan solutions.
But its campaign launch included some questionable statements, such as California that had the highest unemployment of the nation. In March, while the Unemymy rate of 5.3% seasonally adjusted from the state was among the highest name, Washington, DC, Michigan and Nevada had Higher or unemployed ratesAccording to the US desk or labor statistics.
Despite positioning himself as a popist who has supported the policy of both parties, Hilton’s vocal support to President Trump, including the request for an investigation into the possible duration of voter fraud, the 2020 presidential elections were certainly collected in the campaign.
On Monday, Hilton refused to answer if he believed that President Biden was legitimately elected in 2020.
“That was two federal elections ago. The approach has to be in our choices. I don’t have a time to talk about any ancient story,” he said, arguing that it is a Gotcha question. That is the favorite of the favorite. “
Trump has not weighed in the governor’s elections, but Trump Vivek Ramaswamy’s ally, who is postulated to Ohio’s governor next year, supported Hilton on Monday.
California Republicans who recognize the challenges of their matches in state elections say that Hilton repeats his best hope.
“Fortune favors the bold. It is a uphill battle for a Republican to win a state position, but if the people in bold as Steve do not emerge, the Republicans will not win,” said Conyers Davis, an advisor to former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Davis first with Hilton when conservative leader David Cameron of England visited then Gov. Schwarzenegger’s smoking tent at the Statehouse in Sacramento in 2008 and worked with him in the successful Cameron campaign in 2010 to become prime minister.
In addition, the primary system of the jungle of the State, in which the two candidates who receive most of the votes in the elementary school of June 2026 go to the general elections, regardless of the party, the bad republicans have a decent photo of the places in the electoral ballot of November.
That is partly due to the fact that the democratic vote can be fractured by the large number of democrats who run, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis” Head of state schools Tony ThurmondFormer Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States Xavier Becerra” Former state controller Betty Yee” Former representative Katie PorterFormer president of the State Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins” Former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villarigosa and Entrepreneur Stephen Cloobck.
Besides, Former Vice President Kamala Harris He is weighing an offer and is expected to make a decision at the end of summer.
On the Republican side, Riverside Chad Bianco County Sheriff He is the only outstanding republican candidate who announced previously that he would run. So, if Democratic voters separate, Bianco or Hilton could win one of the two best places, despite the deep blue inclination of the state.
Hilton, 55, is the son of Hungarian immigrants who fled a revolution in 1956. He was born in England and after graduating from Oxford, Hilton worked in politics and advertising. Hey founded “Good Business”, a consulting firm that advised companies such as Nike and McDonald’s about ethical capitalism.
Described as “part Svengalí, part of Spin Doctor, London Strategy Party in 2006, Hilton was the main and close -confidant advisor of Cameron, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 2010 to 2016.
Hilton was attributed to the modernization of the British conservative movement, remove the ideals of free market and at the same time support the liberal social policy, such as supporting homosexual rights and fighting climate change.
The news reports about Hilton’s time in 10 Downing St. paint it as a charismatic but eccentric figure, with wrinkled shirts, jeans or tracksuit pants, cycling equipment and without shoes while wandering for the formal residence of the heavy of the prime minister.
Hilton emigrated to California in 2012 with his wife, Rachel Whettone, who has worked as Public Relations Executive on Google, Uber, Facebook and Netflix. He became an American citizen in 2021, in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, and was a vocal critic of the closures. The couple lives in the rich community of Atherton Silicon Valley and has two children.
Since he moved to the United States, Hilton has taught at Stanford University, organized a Fox News program called “The Next Revolution”, and co -founded Crowlpac, a non -partisan political fundraising website. He and the company separated in 2018 after their full support for Trump caused controversy.
The relations of Silicon Valley de Hilton with billionaires such as risk capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya and former executive director of Google Eric Schmidt could also be a blessing for his governor campaign.
In 2023, Hilton founded Golden Together, a research group focused on restoring California’s dream. Among the group’s policy approaches are the commercial climate of the State, the lack of housing, the crime, the affordable housing and the management of forest fires.
