Calling for a dramatic cut in taxes, Republican candidate Steve Hilton says it’s time Californians chose someone other than a Democrat for governor.
“It’s 16 years now that we’ve had one party running everything, and if you look at history … when you have one-party rule, in the end, it doesn’t deliver the results that we want,” the gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News commentator said during a campaign forum Tuesday evening.
“We are ranked 50th out of 50 states for opportunity by U.S. News & World Report. That is a crime,” Hilton said.
The forum, co-hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena, Calif.-based National Public Radio station LAist, put the candidate on the spot for over 50 minutes of intense questioning from a panel of journalists. According to event hosts, an invitation for Democratic opponent Xavier Becerra to appear alongside Hilton went unanswered.
The panel asked how Hilton plans to finance his proposed “Working Class Tax Cut,” which would make the first $150,000 of income tax-free – and how he would slash gas prices down to $3 a gallon (less than half of the current $6.36 statewide average) without blowing a massive hole in the state budget.
Pointing to explosive government growth, Hilton noted that the state budget has “more than doubled in the last 10 years.” He framed this as an extraordinary fiscal contradiction, emphasizing that it has happened precisely at a time when roughly 2 million residents have moved out of state.
“So we’re spending twice as much for a big reduction in population and worse results,” Hilton said.
The Republican gubernatorial candidate explained the spending cuts he would make to cover the cost of his proposed tax break.
“Number one is high-speed rail. I’ve said I’d cut that,” said Hilton. “Secondly, just today, we’ve made an announcement: We call it Operation Zero Waste, finding ways to cut out the waste in the budget.”
Hilton said, “There are massive amounts of fraud reported in Medi-Cal,” California’s Medicaid program that provides free or low-cost health insurance coverage to income-eligible residents.
Hilton estimated the fraud to be $5 billion.
“The next part of the plan is a 5% reduction in all budgets in the state government,” said Hilton. “It’s been a long time, if ever, that the government’s been asked to save a bit of money and be more efficient.”
According to Hilton, those three items take California beyond the $25 billion cost of the first part of his tax plan, which is the $150,000 in income tax-free part.
When the discussion turned to the state’s affordability crisis – touching on home prices, zoning barriers, a 10% rent increase cap and water infrastructure hurdles – Hilton defended his blueprint to build 10 entirely new cities outward.
Rather than blaming the market alone, Hilton argued that the state itself is manufacturing the housing shortage through bureaucracy. According to Hilton, government fees and regulations inflate the price of a brand-new California home by an average of $200,000. By placing a strict $50,000 legislative cap on those cumulative administrative and regulatory fees, Hilton is proposing to strip away three-quarters of that bureaucratic overhead.
Later at the forum, reporters pressed Hilton on his ultimatum giving mayors a year to clear street encampments with the backing of the California Highway Patrol, as well as how he plans to fund a massive expansion in mental healthcare.
Hilton leaned into the humanitarian urgency of the crisis, arguing that current conditions on California streets are entirely unacceptable. “We would never allow someone we love to continue to live in those conditions, so I don’t know why we think it’s OK for people we don’t know.”
The immediate priority, Hilton said, is moving people out of danger before navigating the long-term steps toward recovery.
Hilton was also asked about his alignment with Republican President Donald Trump in a state where a majority of voters strongly oppose the president. Hilton was asked how he envisions standing up to the federal government if elected. Trump has endorsed Hilton, something Becerra, a former state attorney general, has frequently spotlighted during his campaign.
Hilton replied to the question by saying he is an independent defender of state interests.
“My job is to stand up for the interests of Californians, and where that conflicts with the attitude of the federal government or the president, I will say so strongly,” Hilton said, adding that he fundamentally “resists centralization of power, central bureaucratic control.”
The evening concluded with Hilton being asked to reconcile his past work as a “green conservative” in the United Kingdom with his current skepticism toward California environmental regulations, fossil fuel production and climate change mandates. For example, Hilton, who served as director of strategy for former Prime Minister David Cameron, described offshore wind as “an absolute abomination.”
Hilton told the panel that for him, environmentalism encompasses far more than just carbon caps.
“Environmentalism includes beautiful parks and public spaces, keeping our coastline pristine and the quality of the environment all around us,” Hilton said. “It’s not just carbon emissions and climate change.”
The Center Square reached out Wednesday to Becerra, who’s a former congressman who served as secretary of health and human services during the Biden administration, but did not hear back by publication time. The Center Square also reached out to the state Democratic and Republican parties in California, but did not hear back by publication time.
Roxanne Hoge, chair of Los Angeles County Republicans (LAGOP), applauded Hilton’s comments.
“This is a perfect illustration of the choice Californians face for governor – someone who shows up and understands policy, or someone who runs and hides,” Hoge told The Center Square in an email about the forum, attended by Hilton, but not Becerra. “We deserve good governance up and down the ballot, which is why we recommend VoteDifferentLA.com as your guide when voting.”
Hoge added that LAGOP is “proud to have the indefatigable Steve Hilton at the top of the ticket.”
For a video of Tuesday’s forum, click here.