California Governor Candidate Steve Hilton Takes Your Questions

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

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Mina Kim (0:24)

Welcome to Forum, I'm Mina Kim. We'll be talking this hour with Republican candidate and California Governor Steve Hilton. And while we try to make the connection with him, we are joined now by KQED Politics correspondent, Marisa Lagos. Hi, Marisa.

Marisa Lagos (0:38)

Hey, Mina. Good morning.

Mina Kim (0:40)

Give me the latest in terms of the status in the race right now, where it stands. We've seen some polls showing that Javier Becerra has a very significant lead in this race, but Hilton's camp has said that they have their own polling that shows that the race is much closer than that. Tell us where things stand.

Marisa Lagos (0:58)

Well, I mean, you have to start with where things stand from a voter registration perspective, which is that Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one. We haven't seen a Republican win statewide in 20 years. So public polling is showing Becerra with a lead of around 18 to 25 points, depending on the poll.

I haven't seen Hilton's internal numbers, but it would be a pretty remarkable feat for any Republican to really come close in a statewide race. We've just seen such partisanship, such polarization in recent years. And like I said, even predating that, I would say 20 years ago was the last time Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sue Poysner won the ballot and won. So it's definitely Becerra's to lose, but Hilton has, I think, been making a lot of media appearances. There was that CNN debate last week, and he's really trying to make his case that Democrats have been in charge for 20 years and it's time for a change.

Mina Kim (1:55)

And very much making his case in comparison to Newsom, right? That has been a focal point of the campaign, trying to distinguish and set himself apart very differently from the way that Newsom has run his governorship.

Marisa Lagos (2:07)

Absolutely, and trying to really yoke Xavier Becerra to Newsom and his administration, right? I mean, Becerra is a former attorney general, state attorney general, but most of his service has really been national. We saw him in Congress for decades and then, of course, he was HHS secretary, Health and Human Services under Biden.

And he's been, quite frankly, very vague in the way he's campaigned, especially, I think, since he won the primary in June. And so it's interesting, I think, to hear Hilton really try to say, look, this is going to be more of the same. I don't think it's an unfair accusation to make, but it's hard because as reporters covering this, we really haven't heard a lot of specificity from Becerra about how he would or wouldn't differ from the current governor.

Mina Kim (2:56)

Yeah, well, I understand that Steve Hilton is connected with us now. And unlike Becerra, Hilton's signature proposals for California include slashing state income taxes and bringing gas to $3 a gallon. And the Trump endorsed candidate insists you can dislike the president and still vote for him. He's a native of Britain and former advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron before coming to the US where he was a pundit for Fox News. Listeners, what are your questions for Steve Hilton who's here with us till 10.40? The number to call is 866-733-6786.

You can also post on our social channels at KQEDforum or email forum at kqed.org. Steve Hilton, welcome to the show.

Steve Hilton (3:38)

Fantastic to be with you Mina and to join you again. It's a while since we last talked. I think it was when I had a book out that we were discussing a while ago and now things have changed a lot, but it's wonderful to be back. I love the show.

I'm a Bay Area native and love listening to Forum, and so it's a great honor to be with you. Thank you.

Mina Kim (3:56)

Well, thank you very much for saying that. Actually, this is the first time I believe you and I have talked, but you may have been on Forum before, but I am so curious. I just read just a little bit of your bio, but you've never held elected office. Tell me why you want to be Governor of California, and what you feel qualifies you most, Steve?

Steve Hilton (4:13)

Well, the reason is that this beautiful state where I've made my life, raised my family, taught at Stanford University, started a business, I feel there's nowhere better than California, but everyone can see that it's going off the rails. In many ways, we have the highest cost of living in the country, housing costs, which are driving millions of people to leave the state. In a way, that's the biggest indictment of where we've gotten after 16 years of trying it one way. So many people are leaving this incredible state of ours. Now, most of my career has been in business, but I also have experience in government as a reformer.