When people are running for an elected position, they often launch their campaign with a book making the case why they are the best candidate for the position, along with their backstory. I have read a few of these over the years and they are mostly ho-hum pablum. Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California in the upcoming 2026 election, writes a different version of the candidate book entitled Califailure. He lays out the problems and then outlines his solutions. Quite a novel approach, so I interviewed him about his plans.
Hilton moved to California in 2012. He told me he is running for Governor because he truly considers the state his home and loves the state. He believes it can become the great state it once was with the best freeways, the best schools, and affordable housing. When he talks about this it makes me think of how the state was when I came here in 1969 (the year of Hilton’s British birth into a family that immigrated from Communist Hungary). Hilton became a U.S. Citizen in 2021.
The first two hundred pages of his book lay out the various problems. I queried Hilton after reading his book why anyone in their right mind would want to tackle the job. Hilton is one of those people who is earnestly optimistic. He believes with the proper leadership team that California can regain its position as a great state and become a force for the future of our country. You know, “California Dreaming” as sung by the Mamas and Papas. In fact, many songs of optimism used to be written about California, but that has died out.
Hilton, undaunted by the dismal conditions laid out in the first part of the book, launched into a detailed plan in the second part of the book of restoring livability to the state.
I asked him about the fact that Gavin is touting that the state has now surpassed Japan as the 4th largest economy in the world. Hilton stated, “We didn’t move up. Japan moved down, and I believe we can become #3 with the proper leadership. But what good does it do us when we have the highest poverty rate in the nation, the most homeless people, and a sagging electrical power structure caused by poor policy decisions. We need all Californians to succeed — not just the coastal elites.”
Hilton is referring to the fact that California has lost residents to other states for two decades now driven out by the excessive costs of housing, gas, electricity, food, etc. As defined by the Public Policy Institute of California, we have lost population for 24 straight years with an acceleration this decade. In 2020, the state lost seats in the House of Representatives for the first time and is on the path to losing more in 2030.
He believes he can reverse this entire process even though the current power structure would be against him. He knows it and he has a plan. It involves replacing the people running the multitude of commissions that control Californians’ day-to-day lives. He understands that is where most decisions are being made that affect the lives of California’s residents.
He plans to veto most of the new laws coming from State Legislature. They pass over one thousand bills a year. Hilton told me, “There are way too many bills passed, and the average Californian has no idea what is being passed as the press only alerts them to a few of the ‘high visibility’ bills. Yet, Californians are responsible for abiding by these laws which affect their daily affairs.”
He also spoke of beginning to replace many left-of-center judges who make far too many decisions that have negative impacts on our lives.
I asked him about Gavin’s apparent U-turn on some public policy issues and Hilton was on top of the facts. He stated the Governor is talking but not doing. His homelessness proposals are suggestions, not actual policies. He asserted the Governor proposed he was cutting the health care expenditures for illegal aliens, but his budget actually increased the expenditures from $9.5 billion to $12.1 billion. Talk is talk; let’s see some action. It was comforting to speak to someone who had a command of the facts.
The obvious question is how will a Republican win in the state of California when no one has won a statewide office since Arnold, a “marginal” Republican at best? Hilton knows there is a large portion of the state that is fed up with our poor management and he is going to every community in the state to let them know the winds of change are in the air.
I told Hilton of my discussions with Robert Ehrlich, a Republican who was elected Governor of Maryland in 2003. Ehrlich told me he how he went to meeting after meeting in communities that had not seen a Republican candidate in their lifetimes. Ehrlich told me how at the end of many days his staff was depressed because these events were not upbeat and were trying at times. But these events got Ehrlich elected.
Hilton will be doing the same thing. He will be delivering his message of “hope for a brighter future” for California with his ever-ready smile and sense of humor.
Maybe it is time for a change. Pick up his book and familiarize yourself with his plans.