SACRAMENTO, California — Former Fox Information host Steve Hilton introduced on Monday he’ll run for California governor, looking for to turn out to be the state’s first Republican chief government since Arnold Schwarzenegger, his marketing campaign confirmed to POLITICO on Monday.
Hilton, who additionally served as an adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, had lengthy been contemplating a run and just lately launched a guide criticizing what he sees because the failings of California’s Democratic management and providing coverage prescriptions. He’s the second main GOP candidate to enter the 2026 discipline, following Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
The Republican invoked former Vice President Kamala Harris — who’s contemplating a run for governor — in his launch video. “It’s time to finish the years of Democrat failure,” Hilton says over a picture of Harris.
“Let’s make California an inspiration, once more, the easiest of America,” Hilton stated. “There’s just one means to try this. We’ve bought to finish the one-party rule that bought us into this mess.”
Republicans have largely consolidated behind considered one of their social gathering’s candidates in California’s current statewide elections, making certain that considered one of their candidates emerges from the state’s “jungle major,” wherein the highest two contenders, no matter social gathering, proceed on to a run-off common election. Hilton’s entry locations him on a collision course with Bianco to win their social gathering’s favor by June of subsequent yr.
Hilton’s efficiency within the subsequent few months won’t solely be a check of his assist relative to Bianco’s however of the conservative motion’s momentum in California — the place Republicans have lengthy been sidelined however loved some electoral wins down the poll in November.
After rising up in Britain and dealing for the Conservative Occasion, Hilton moved to California in 2012. He has taught at Stanford College and based the tech startup Crowdpac since transferring to the states, and till 2023 hosted “The Subsequent Revolution” on Fox Information — the place has remained a contributor.
Hilton has additionally been a robust supporter of President Donald Trump and expressed deep admiration for former United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in his marketing campaign video.
He has already filed paperwork to run for the workplace and has a public occasion in Huntington Seashore — a conservative Orange County metropolis — deliberate Tuesday.
