The conservative and businessman of Silicon Valley, Steve Hilton, announced on Monday that he runs for governor, the second prominent republican to enter the 2026 race to replace Democratic governor Gavin Newsom.
“California means to the United States what the United States means for the world. Let's make the land of opportunity again: excellent jobs, big houses, big children. Let's make an inspiration from California again, the best of the United States,” he said in a video of almost three minutes published online. “There is only one way of doing that. We have to end the rule of a party that led us to this disaster. It's time to finish the years of Democratic failure. It is time for a new future. That is why I apply for governor, so that this beautiful state that we love so much really golden again.”
Hilton, who plans an official campaign announcement event at Huntington Beach on Tuesday, faces strong probabilities. The Californians last elected state Republican candidates in 2006, and state residents have become more liberal since then. However, there is a growing frustration on issues such as crime, inflation and cost of living.
“Fortune favors the bold. It is a uphill battle for a Republican to win a state position, but if the bold people like Steve do not emerge, the Republicans will not win,” said Conyers Davis, an advisor to former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Davis met Hilton for the first time when conservative leader David Cameron of England visited then Gov. Schwarzenegger's smoking tent at the Statehouse in Sacramento in 2008 and worked with him in the successful Cameron campaign in 2010 to become prime minister.
In addition, the primary system of the jungle of the State, in which the two candidates who receive most of the votes in the elementary school of June 2026 go to the general elections, regardless of the party, the bad republicans have a decent opportunity to ensure one of the places in the November electoral ballot.
That is partly due to the fact that the democratic vote can be fractured by the large number of democrats who run, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Head of state schools Tony ThurmondFormer Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States Xavier Becerra, former state controller Betty Yee, former representative Katie Porterformer president of the State Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa and Entrepreneur Stephen Cloobck.
Besides, Former Vice President Kamala Harris He is weighing an offer and is expected to make a decision at the end of summer.
On the Republican side, Riverside Chad Bianco County Sheriff He is the only outstanding republican candidate who announced previously that he would run. So, if the Democratic voters are divided, Bianco or Hilton could win one of the first two places, despite the deep blue inclination of the state.
Hilton, 55, is the son of Hungarian immigrants who fled his homeland during a revolution in 1956. He was born in England and after graduating from Oxford, Hilton worked in politics and advertising. Then he founded “good business”, a consulting firm that advised companies such as Nike and McDonald's about ethical capitalism.
Described as “part Svengalí, part of Spin Doctor, London Strategy Party in 2006, Hilton was the main and close -confidant advisor of Cameron, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 2010 to 2016.
Hilton was attributed the modernization of the British conservative movement, which remained faithful to the ideals of free market, while supporting liberal social policy, as supporting the rights of homosexuals and fighting climate change.
The news reports about Hilton's time in 10 Downing St. paint it as a charismatic but eccentric figure, with wrinkled shirts, jeans or tracksuit pants, cycling equipment and without shoes while wandering for the formal residence of the heavy of the prime minister.
It also attracted the headlines for winning around $ 450,000 per year in 2006, a salary that eclipsed Cameron's compensation, according to the observer. And he broke with Cameron when supporting Brexit, the successful effort of 2016 for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
Hilton emigrated to California in 2012 with his wife, Rachel Whettone, who has worked as Public Relations Executive on Google, Uber, Facebook and Netflix. He became an American citizen in 2021, in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, and was a vocal critic of the closures. The couple lives in the rich community of Atherton Silicon Valley and has two children.
Since he moved to the United States, Hilton has taught at Stanford University, organized a Fox News program called “The Next Revolution”, and co -founded Crowlpac, a non -partisan political fundraising website. He and the company separated in 2018 after their full support for President Trump caused controversy.
Despite positioning himself as a populist who has supported the policy of both parties, Hilton's vocal support to Trump, including requesting an investigation into potential voting fraud during the presidential elections of 2020, and other controversial views will surely be raised in the campaign.
Shortly after losing the 2020 elections, Trump tweeted several Hilton videos questioning the validity of voting counts.
“For four years, [Democrats] He drew and planned to undermine and cancel the sacred right of American democracy. For four years, they stained duly elected president and his supporters, “Hilton said in one of Fox's appearances retweeted.” 'Not my president' shouted, 'he is not my president'. Four years later, they are still. ”
A Hilton spokesman defended his comments.
“Together with Joe Biden, Mitt Romney and almost everyone else at that time, Steve requested an investigation into any dispute raised on the elections,” said Republican strategist Héctor Barajas.
Trump has not weighed in the governor's elections, but Trump Vivek Ramaswamy's ally, who is postulated to Ohio's governor next year, supported Hilton on Monday.
The relations of Silicon Valley de Hilton with billionaires such as risk capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya and former executive director of Google Eric Schmidt could also be a blessing for his governor campaign.
In 2023, Hilton founded Golden Together, a research group focused on restoring California's dream. Among the group's policy approaches are the commercial climate of the State, the lack of housing, the crime, the affordable housing and the management of forest fires. Its advisor Board includes Lanhee Cen, former advisor to Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio presidential campaigns; Gloria Romero, a former leader of the Democratic state Senate who is now a republican; The former mayor of San Diego, Kevin Faulconer, and Davis.
“He is someone who is sincerely interested in working to address some of the challenges that California faces,” said Chen, a Stanford teacher who ran without success for the state controller in 2022 and has been floating as a potential state candidate or in Congress. Chen said he is weighing his options, but that he is a supporter of Hilton due to his approach to politics and substance.
“He is in his nucleus a type of policy,” said Chen, “and has many ideas to address these challenges.”
