Steve Hilton, the previous Fox Information host and coverage adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, is critically contemplating a run to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom in two years, three folks in shut contact with him inform POLITICO.
Whereas Hilton and his crew didn’t remark when approached for this story, a number of outstanding political figures within the state conveyed that the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, who has been growing his public appearances and give attention to California public coverage, is already deep in discussions a couple of attainable run as a Republican.
“He’s pondering very critically about working for governor and he’s doing it in a really organized method,” stated Jim Brulte, the previous California Republican Social gathering chair and GOP chief of the state Senate. “I do know he’s speaking to plenty of the appropriate folks as a result of I’ve heard from plenty of the appropriate those that he’s speaking to them.”
Hilton’s candidacy would quantity to a serious check of voters’ appetites to problem Democratic dogma and traditional knowledge in one of many nation’s largest, bluest states. It additionally might assist resolve whether or not deteriorating circumstances on the bottom — pockets of excessive crime, homelessness and hovering value of dwelling — will precipitate a fulsome dialog about different management that hasn’t occurred in many years.
Phrase of Hilton’s curiosity has already piqued the curiosity of leaders in Silicon Valley, together with figures pining for a political disruptor. In an interview, Chamath Palihapitiya, the billionaire tech enterprise capitalist who has more and more waded into nationwide and state politics, stated Hilton’s emergence might jumpstart conversations round a variety of points plaguing California.
“He’s a no-BS one that cuts to the center of points regardless of how uncomfortable the reality is,” Palihapitiya informed POLITICO, calling Hilton “a particularly exact ‘first rules’ thinker,” a phrase used to explain individuals who can reverse-engineer options to advanced issues. “I believe that that could possibly be actually refreshing on the proper second in California.”
The emergence of a reputable Republican and a extra aggressive atmosphere amongst a protracted record of Democrats stand to make 2026 essentially the most wide-open contest in latest reminiscence. However the contours of the governor’s race gained’t take form till there’s a winner within the presidential contest. If former President Donald Trump wins, main Republicans consider there shall be little oxygen for a candidate like Hilton to interrupt by means of. But when Vice President Kamala Harris takes the White Home, California voters could also be extra receptive to listening to from an rebel.
The far-off contest has already drawn a number of figures recognized to Democratic insiders and any Republican who hopes to compete would start the race as a longshot given Democrats’ important voter registration benefit. Hilton is probably not the one Republican competitor in 2026. POLITICO was the primary to report that Southern California Sheriff Chad Bianco, an unsparing critic of Newsom and a conservative fixture on Fox Information, can also be contemplating a gubernatorial run.
The Democratic aspect contains Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, the earliest to declare her candidacy, in addition to former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Sen. Toni Atkins, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Controller Betty Yee. Lawyer Normal Rob Bonta is weighing a bid of his personal, and Well being and Human Providers Secretary Xavier Becerra has approached political advisers about standing up a marketing campaign.
Folks in shut contact with Hilton say he’s hyper-focused on coverage prescriptions to take care of the state’s largest issues — together with homelessness, the dearth of reasonably priced housing, the excessive value of dwelling, schooling and embracing the booming tech sector. Hilton has been a powerful supporter of Trump and he lately appeared at a fundraiser for JD Vance, however in California, he’s leaned into his personal model of “constructive populism,” typically eschewing collared shirts in favor of canary-yellow henleys.
“He’s targeted on coverage and my sense is his marketing campaign could be a policy-driven agenda,” Brulte stated. “He’s a constructive and optimistic man.”
Hilton has been a California resident since 2012, when he moved to the uber-wealthy enclave of Atherton the place he tends to chickens, and have become a U.S. citizen in 2021. He hosted the Fox program “The Subsequent Revolution” on Sunday nights till final yr, and stays a contributor to the community after founding the tech startup Crowdpac and instructing at Stanford.
In casual conferences with reporters and on the speaker’s circuit at Republican occasions, Hilton has pitched himself as a charismatic determine who has executed his homework on state issues. He went years with no smartphone, although he flip-flopped on flip-phones, and is shut with a number of media figures and politicians. In latest months, he’s appeared at quite a few get together features whereas specializing in his group Golden Together, which he contends is aiming to revive the California Dream that started through the Gold Rush. The group has launched 5 whitepapers on every little thing from enhancing the enterprise local weather and creating water abundance to ending the housing shortage.
Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Establishment fellow and Republican candidate for state controller who misplaced his race in 2022, serves on the Golden Collectively advisory board and stated Hilton has been working to construct his profile within the state. Chen credited Hilton’s coverage chops within the U.Ok. and by way of his nonprofit group and argued that the huge discipline of Democrats might open a lane for another voice.
“The Democrats are all mainly clones of one another. … It’s not like they’re working a universally acknowledged title,” stated Chen, a former prime adviser to Republican candidates, together with Mitt Romney. “So, it will likely be attention-grabbing, and it might create some form of political alternative.”
“Everybody is aware of the challenges” for a Republican working in California, he added, “however no establishment lasts perpetually, so let’s see what occurs.”
California has not had a Republican — or a standing quo-disruptor — in Sacramento since Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the recall in 2003. In 2018, Newsom started the first with a couple of third of the vote and by no means seemed again. After Newsom stood apart for Jerry Brown in 2010, Brown went on to defeat Republican government Meg Whitman regardless of her sinking $144 million of her personal wealth into the marketing campaign.
Hilton’s outreach has had him making an attempt to domesticate deep-pocketed tech gamers in Silicon Valley who’ve lengthy been at odds with the state’s energy gamers. Within the interview, Palihapitiya stated he needs to see a serious debate concerning the high quality of public schooling — together with on the necessity for extra kids to be educated in math and sciences to ensure they’ve fruitful employment in a future world dominated by AI and robotics.
“Once I take into consideration all the businesses which have left the state, that worries me when it comes to occupied with the longer term and the way we be certain that the state has a sturdy stability sheet,” stated Palihapitiya, who hosts the “All In” podcast with fellow traders Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg.
However he stated these considerations go deeper than company backside strains. “If all of those firms are voting with their toes, what are they really saying? It’s not essentially nearly taxation, as a result of I don’t suppose 100 foundation factors in a single route or the opposite essentially ideas a large group like Chevron to maneuver. So the true underlying query is, what’s occurring as a broad, multi-decade development that causes an organization like Chevron, who I think, research every little thing 9 methods to Sunday, to decide to depart?”
Palihapitiya stated he acknowledges the challenges for Republican candidates to guide such conversations concerning the enterprise local weather, not to mention win a statewide race, however he argues the expansion of social media and non-traditional channels that transfer data might assist Republicans and independents get traction with voters who’re annoyed with the established order.
“As extra folks perceive the small print of why some issues aren’t working for them, I believe that they’re much less susceptible to creating a simplified partisan resolution,” Palihapitiya stated. “If industrial competitors leaves the state, after which the innovation financial system basically makes a special resolution when it comes to the place they arrange, I believe that can have an effect on sufficient folks within the conventional partisan locations” like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
