Steve Hilton wasn't supposed to be competitive in California. A British-born former advisor to UK Prime Minister David Cameron and former Fox News host, running as a Republican in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1, to replace Gavin Newsom. But the 2026 race for governor has turned into something no one in Sacramento expected.
Republican Steve Hilton is now polling within single digits of Democrat Xavier Becerra, and his campaign is drawing support from a group you wouldn't expect: disillusioned Democrats.
Who is Steve Hilton?
Hilton is running on a simple thesis he laid out in his book Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America's Worst-Run State — that California is fundamentally broken by its own bureaucracy, and needs an outsider to fix it.
His pitch to voters is "try something different" after nearly two decades of Democratic control. In his words: "If anyone is going to pull this state around, that is the plan. Change is coming; we are heading to Sacramento."
What His Plans Actually Mean
Hilton's platform isn't a traditional conservative checklist. It's an affordability agenda built around three levers: tax relief, cheaper energy and water, and deregulation.
1. The Big Tax Cut
His opening promise is to "massively reduce the tax burden," financed by "returning state spending to pre-pandemic levels". In interviews he has detailed plans to make the first $150,000 of income tax-free and to massively slash the hidden costs of living in California.
What it means: Hilton is framing the cost-of-living crisis as a spending problem, not a revenue problem. For families, it means more take-home pay on day one. For Sacramento, it means unwinding programs expanded in the last 5 years.
2. Abolish the DMV and the $73 Flat Fee
On Sept. 8, Hilton announced his most headline-grabbing plan: abolish California's DMV, which he calls a "monopoly" and a "bloated, nanny-state, bureaucratic agency that treats Californians with complete contempt".
He would decentralize registrations, titles, licenses and road tests to county offices and certified local providers, and replace the state's value-based vehicle tax and stacked surcharges with a flat $73 annual fee for every vehicle.
What it means: The campaign estimates this would drop registration revenue from $11 billion to $2.7 billion. It's a direct attack on what many Californians feel as the "hidden Car Tax" — and a test of whether voters want smaller government even if it means rethinking how roads and the CHP are funded.
3. Housing, Energy, and Water
Hilton has said he would cap government fees and regulations on a new home in California at $50,000, build 10 new cities, freeze tuition and create three-year degrees for higher ed, and push for $3 gas and lower utility bills.
On water, he has called for clearing environmental regulations to build more dams and storage.
What it means: This is the deregulation core of his plan — faster permitting as affordability policy. Supporters see overdue course correction. Critics say state and federal environmental laws and local zoning will slow it down.
The Surprise: Why Democrats Are Supporting Him
This is where the race gets interesting. Recent coverage of the Becerra vs. Hilton race notes a pattern that has rattled Democratic strategists:
"Democrats who had gladly (blindly) voted for Newsom have told Hilton that they will vote for him this time around. They want a state that works again, and Hilton has the plans and the panache to make it all happen."
Hilton himself told Newsmax that California Democrats are growing "flustered" by his bid, and internal polling commissioned by his campaign in early October showed Becerra at 45.7% to Hilton's 40.1% with 14% undecided — a dramatic tightening in a blue state.
Why?
1. Affordability is non-partisan. Rent, gas, utilities, DMV fees — every Californian pays them. Hilton's focus on cost-of-living consistently ranks as the top voter concern, and it's hitting Democratic voters hardest in Los Angeles, the Central Valley, and the Inland Empire.
2. The "Works Again" Democrat. The Democrats crossing over aren't becoming Republicans. They are the classic California independent-minded Democrat — small business owners, Latino working-class voters, and suburban parents who feel Sacramento has become an insider protection racket. Hilton's message of returning spending to pre-pandemic levels resonates as common sense, not ideology.
3. A Vacuum on the Democratic Side. As one analysis noted, Hilton has emerged as an unlikely contender "thanks in part to the Democrats struggling to rally behind a candidate in a state that has voted blue in the past seven presidential elections". Becerra has been accused of "hiding from voters and coasting on Democratic support" — an opening Hilton has hammered.
Polls still show partisan loyalty is strong — about 90% of Democrats backing Becerra and 90% of Republicans backing Hilton. But in California, where independents are more than one-fifth of the electorate, that 5-10% of Democrats willing to defect for an affordability candidate is enough to make this a real race.
Bottom Line
Steve Hilton isn't trying to turn California red. He's trying to turn it functional. His plan means less money to Sacramento and more money in your pocket, fewer state agencies and more county-level control, and a bet that building — homes, dams, energy — will solve what spending hasn't.
And for a growing slice of California Democrats tired of paying more and getting less, that sounds less like a Republican plan and more like common sense.
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