Ex-Cameron adviser Steve Hilton mounts long-shot bid for California governor
Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former British Conservative strategist, is campaigning for California governor despite polls showing him trailing Democrat Xavier Becerra by around 20 percentage points.
Steve Hilton, a former Downing Street political adviser and Fox News host, is running for governor of California even though opinion polls put him roughly 20 percentage points behind Democratic rival Xavier Becerra.
Hilton's campaign has produced a string of unconventional proposals: abolishing the state's motor vehicle department, cutting gas prices to $3 a gallon, opening a new business school in a working-class Los Angeles neighborhood, and holding a competition among California's 58 counties to build ten brand-new cities. Central to his pitch is the argument that 16 years of Democratic control over every statewide office has pushed California to the brink of ruin.
From British politics to Silicon Valley
Hilton previously served as a senior adviser in David Cameron's coalition government in the UK during the 2010s and has also worked as a restaurant owner and business consultant. He moved to California largely because his wife, Rachel Whetstone, built a prominent career in tech public relations in Silicon Valley.
Some of his proposals echo standard Republican positions — he wants to create a California version of the federal government-efficiency unit associated with Elon Musk, and to roll back several environmental rules, including a plan for more energy-efficient tires. He also wants to halt funding for the long-delayed high-speed rail project linking San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The Trump problem
Hilton's biggest obstacle is his party's association with President Trump, whose name is especially unpopular in California, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one. Hilton has distanced himself from Trump's claims of a "rigged" election system and sees no need to restrict mail-in voting, though he received Trump's endorsement during the primary.
Hilton won close to 25% of the vote in June's primary, finishing second to Becerra in a crowded field. A recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that even independent voters favor Becerra by nearly 20 points. The two candidates are scheduled to debate on Wednesday.
