California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said he would waste little time making cuts to a state government that has driven up costs for residents.
“What I’m going to start doing on day one is putting this bloated government bureaucracy into the wood chipper,” Hilton told reporters in an interview outlining his agenda for Sacramento.
Hilton, a former TV host endorsed by President Donald Trump, has surged in early polling as Democrats scramble ahead of California’s primary election. The Republican outsider says voters are fed up after years of Democrat control under Governor Gavin Newsom.
Hilton’s campaign centers on what he calls a “Calaffordable” agenda aimed at lowering gas prices, cutting electric bills, reducing taxes, and ending what he describes as crushing government overregulation.
“The quickest and most immediate way we can help people is to cut their taxes and stop taking so much money,” Hilton said. His proposals include ending California income taxes on the first $100,000 earned, suspending the state gas tax, eliminating free healthcare for illegal immigrants, and reducing regulations blamed for soaring housing costs.
In a separate interview, Hilton argued California’s affordability crisis stems from “ridiculous regulations” and ideological policymaking by Democrats.
“We’ve got this sprawling, bloated government bureaucracy. We’ve got to cut it back down to size,” he said.
Hilton also vowed to immediately halt California’s troubled high-speed rail project, calling it “a total waste of money.”
“They said it would be $30 billion,” Hilton stated. “Now they’re saying it’s $230 billion and maybe a small part will be finished by the end of the 2030s. It’s total insanity.”
On homelessness, Hilton promised a far tougher approach than Newsom’s administration, including repealing California’s Housing First mandate, banning public camping, and using state law enforcement if cities fail to clear encampments.
Hilton also pledged major energy and water reforms, including increasing in-state oil production, maximizing natural gas power generation, and redirecting more water to California farms instead of “sending it to the ocean.”
The Republican candidate framed himself as an outsider prepared to challenge nearly two decades of Democrat dominance in California politics.
“It’s time for an outsider to shake up the system,” Hilton said. “We desperately need change in California, not more of the same.”
