Steve Hilton has a message for those who think it’s ‘impossible’ to save California

After over a decade of one-party rule and a mass exodus from the “Golden State,” Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton told the Daily Caller News Foundation why voters should fight to fix California — not flee it.

California’s influence on the U.S. economy has been slipping, with an estimated 500,000 people fleeing the state between 2020 and 2022, and major companies leaving over the same timespan. Problems have piled up under the leadership of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, with issues such as taxes, gas prices, homelessness, inflation, housing affordability and drugs taking their toll on residents.

However, with Newsom’s term ending in 2026, Hilton told the DCNF that change could be possible if voters are willing to kick out the lawmakers who are the source of the problems.

“I say, why should we leave California when we’re not the ones that have destroyed the California dream and made living here so impossible? It’s the politicians, the Democrats, who have this 15 years of one party rule,” Hilton told the DCNF. “They’re the ones who’ve done this, right? Why should we put up with it? Why should we just have to accept this? The only choice is either living in this struggle and pain or leaving.”

“That’s ridiculous, right? We can change this,” Hilton added. “It doesn’t have to be like this, but we have to work incredibly hard to win elections, to kick out the people who did this to our state and put in place of that common sense, practical policies that will actually help people and businesses. I know how to do that and I will do that, but we’ve just got to win the election.”

The ‘California Dream’

Hilton was born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents who fled communism. After working in politics in the U.K., he eventually transitioned to starting his own business before returning to the political arena. By 2012, the former Fox News host had moved to Silicon Valley to resume his entrepreneurial career in the Bay Area, becoming CEO of Crowdpac, a political crowdfunding and data start-up.

From 2017 to 2023, Hilton hosted Fox News’ “The Next Revolution,” a weekly current affairs show. He became a U.S. citizen in 2021, officially qualifying him to run for governor in California.

In addition to Hilton, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco also announced his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in February. When asked what he believes sets him apart from other candidates, despite not being born and raised in California, Hilton reflected on how his life story embodies the “California dream.”

“I think that the experience that I’ve had in my life, which is being raised in England as the son of immigrants with that aspirational working class idea of climbing the ladder of opportunity and making progress in your life and wanting your kids to have a better life than you, that is the California dream,” Hilton said. “That is a universal aspiration, and I totally understand that and relate to that because I lived that.”

“I was just yesterday in East LA with a bunch of parents and small business owners, Latinos, who are just so frustrated because they feel that their aspirations are being totally crushed. Every single aspect of the things that we should want for people so that they can have that opportunity and live the California dream is being crushed,” Hilton added.

The ‘Change’ Candidate 

According to a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey released in February, 54% of respondents said they believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. Data shows that about half of the 1,589 adults surveyed named the cost of living and inflation, housing availability and the environment as the most important issues for Newsom to address in 2025.

Living in California has become more expensive over the years, as the typical home in the state now costs more than 11 times what the average household earns, according to CalMatters. But despite these concerns, a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll conducted in April found that 54% of the 6,201 registered voters surveyed believe Newsom is more focused on a potential 2028 presidential bid, while just 26% believing he’s governing the state to help solve its issues.

Despite Hilton’s optimism, California Democrats hold a strong advantage in both party registration and in the state Legislature. According to California Secretary of State’s data from February, Democrats hold an estimated 45.3% of the state’s registration, with 25.2% registered as Republicans, 22.3% registered with no party preference and an estimated 7.2% registered with other parties.

“I agree. And I understand that. The way I put it is this, the candidate who’s going to win in November 2026 is going to be the change candidate,” Hilton told the DCNF. “Regardless of party label, it’s going to be the change candidate.”

“So my question will be, ‘Who’s more likely to bring change, someone from the party that caused the mess, or someone with new ideas to clean it up?’ That’s my position,” Hilton added. “That’s why I think this is that I keep saying it’s going to be difficult, but it’s not impossible. We can do this. It doesn’t have to be like this in California.”

Solutions To California’s Homeless Crisis 

Homelessness in the state is a major issue facing residents and officials in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, costing taxpayers billions as lawmakers have vowed for years to fix the crisis. A state audit from April 2024 found that despite allocating nearly $24 billion to homelessness and housing services over the past five fiscal years, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness failed to track its funding and could not verify the accuracy of its collected data.

In response to the crisis, Hilton laid out his three-point plan to address the issue, stating that his first move would be to enforce local laws.

“We’ve got to enforce the law. For years, it’s [been] illegal to camp on the streets. All these homeless encampments, everything we see there, the open air drug markets, all of it is illegal,” Hilton said. “It’s been going on for years. The authorities have not enforced the law … And if local governments won’t enforce the law, then [the] state government needs to step in, because it’s clearly an emergency. It’s clearly a threat to the public’s health and safety, let alone the health and safety of the people in this situation.”

Hilton continued to tell the DCNF that he would seek to overturn California’s Housing First legislation, passed in 2016, which made it “illegal for any organization receiving state money for homelessness to require abstinence from drugs or drug treatment or any kind of treatment as a condition of receiving shelter.”

“It’s illegal, therefore, to actually solve the problem, because we know now that over 80% of people experiencing homelessness have either drug addiction, alcohol addiction, mental health problems or some combination,” Hilton said.

“Yet we’ve been handing out money and putting people on their own in apartments for years and not requiring anything in terms of getting their lives back on track,” Hilton continued. “That law needs to be overturned.”

Hilton’s third point to address the homelessness crisis is additionally focused on the “importance of mental health” provisions in the state.

“It’s actually barbaric what’s going on. Now, why don’t we fund mental health properly? Because a lot of the mental health provision is reimbursed through Medicaid, federally reimbursed,” Hilton told the DCNF. “Medicaid, since its inception, has had a rule called the IMD rule, Institutes for Mental Disease.”

“The IMD rule, since the 60s, has stated, because there was a lot of concern then about mental asylums, overflow of the cuckoo’s nest, all of that cultural stuff, that you can’t have funding. There’s no federal reimbursement for any facility that has more than 16 beds,” Hilton said. “It’s a very precise number. So that means you’re stuck with a very inefficient framework for providing mental health services.”

Democrats In The Game

The race for the governor’s seat officially begins in June 2026, when the state will hold its free-for-all primary election, also known as a “jungle primary” system. The process, implemented in 2012, allows the top two vote-getters to advance to the general election and permits voters with no party affiliation to participate in both elections.

As of April, Democrats such as former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state controller Betty Yee, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former Democrat Rep. Katie Porter announced their bids for the race. With candidates having until March 2026 to finalize paperwork, Hilton and Bianco are the only two Republicans currently on the ballot, according to CBS News.

Reports suggest former Vice President Kamala Harris may throw her name into the ring following her 2024 presidential loss. With California as her home state and having held office as a former state attorney general and senator, Harris is reportedly expected to make a decision by late summer, Politico reported.

Hollywood’s Free Fall 

Discussing his potential plans for addressing agriculture, education and other top issues in the state, Hilton also addressed the state’s declining film and television production industry.

In 2023, Los Angeles saw a 19.7% drop in new scripted film and television projects, with just 183 produced compared to 228 the year before, according to TheWrap. Major studios like Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. have moved productions out of California, relocating either overseas to Canada and the U.K. or to states like Georgia and New Mexico offering better tax incentives and lower production costs.

“Our film and TV production industry is being crushed by neglect and a lack of understanding of the factors that actually drive the kind of decisions about where production is made. It’s actually pretty much the same as all the other problems afflicting our state, which is high costs. That’s the number one reason that production is moving out,” Hilton said.

“Gas prices, rent, all those things, you know, [are] part of my agenda to make those things affordable will also help that industry,” Hilton told the DCNF.

Hilton described how Democrats in the industry have become “hopeless” due to being “completely controlled by the [film] unions”

“Then you get to the issue of tax incentives. I mean, that’s been a more positive pull from other states and other countries for TV and film production,” Hilton continued. “I would say I’ll take the win from Gavin Newsom [who’s] now saying we’re going to do tax incentives for the film and TV industry, agreeing in principle that lower taxes are good for business.”

“My argument would be great. Let’s lower taxes across the board for the film and TV production industry, but every industry. So we reverse the exodus of all companies,” Hilton added. “So I prefer lower taxes across the board than specific carve outs for particular favored industries. I think what that all adds up to is if we have a governor with a pro-growth, pro-business, pro-energy agenda broadly across all policy areas, that is the best thing we can do to attract that film and TV.”

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would impose a 100% tariff on “any and all” movie productions filmed in “foreign lands.” While some in the entertainment industry warned the tariffs could deal a devastating blow to the industry, actor and Hollywood ambassador Jon Voight said Monday he’s been helping craft recommendations to bring productions back to California.

“I know people say it’s not possible to change things in California. I totally reject that,” Hilton continued. “It is possible. It’s very difficult. I’m not saying it’s easy, but what are we going to do? Just sit here and accept continued stagnation and decline? That’s ridiculous.”

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