Former Fox News host Steven Hilton is putting his hat in the gubernatorial race, as he held a briefing with ACOM to explain why he is the right candidate for California. Hilton is an immigrant from London who worked with former United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron as his director of strategy. In 2012, Hilton moved to California after meeting his wife and acquired his citizenship in 2021. He later hosted The Next Revolution, a weekly show on Fox News until 2023.
Hilton has not hidden his dissatisfaction with Gov. Newsom’s policies and his perspective on how he is running California. “ His current model of running this state is leaving a lot to be desired, and the people deserve better.” Hilton pointed out that California has the highest cost of living, the highest cost for homeownership, a high poverty rate, and a high unemployment rate. “ It’s very clear we need to change directions, revamp the system, and that’s why I am running for office.”
On the topic of immigration, Hilton is 100 percent supportive of legal immigration and wants to help provide opportunities to those he once shared the same position with when he first arrived in the USA. “ I agree with democrats about not undermining democracy, but due to the results of the presidential election, we have to respect the wants and needs of the people, and they voted for this immigration process that the current administration is using,” Hilton said. He would change the approach to immigration laws from confrontational to peacefully enforced. Hilton also believes that illegal immigrants shouldn’t be able to take jobs from citizens either.
“(A construction worker in Sacramento) said he’s been laid off because the employers are now hiring illegal immigrant workers that they don’t have to pay health care, they don’t have to pay all these costs, don’t have to pay proper taxes,” Hilton said on NBCLA’s NewsConference on March 22. “That’s not fair to regular Californians.”
Hilton’s plans of action at the moment sound good on paper, but they should face steep hurdles once written and sent to Congress. Hilton is proposing eliminating state income taxes on the first $100,000 people earn, expanding oil production and refinery capacity to reduce gas prices, and building more single-family homes to address the housing shortage.
“The first thing we have to do is cut taxes, because that’s the most direct thing that you can do to make life more affordable for Californians,” Hilton said. “Cut and reduce waste in the government,” Hilton said, claiming the state has spent hundreds of billions of dollars inefficiently over the past several years.