Steve Hilton, the Republican former Fox News host and gubernatorial candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, is making a direct appeal to Californians who dislike the president: Vote for me anyway.
In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1, Hilton has virtually no path to defeating Democratic former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra without winning voters outside his party. A poll released last week showed Becerra leading 61% to 36%, including a 60% to 34% advantage among independents. On Wednesday, Hilton rolled out a newspaper ad aimed directly at those voters.
The full-page newspaper ad, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee, was titled “Can you be anti-Trump but still vote for me?” It offered voters a “simple test,” asking if they agreed with any of the following 10 statements, including “I can’t stand Trump, but I’m not happy with the way things have been run in California lately,” and “I’m a Democrat, but I want to send a message that we need a change.”
Other issues Hilton used in the ad to persuade voters included wanting to fight climate change, but believing $6 a gallon gas is too high, and being in support of solar power, but struggling to afford the cost of electricity.
The ad tells voters who agree with any of the statements that Hilton is their choice for governor.
“Yes, I’m the Republican,” the ad reads. “The ‘Fox News guy.’ Endorsed by Trump. But this election is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what you love here.”
Matt Ciepielowski, Hilton’s campaign manager, said the campaign wants “to give voters a permission slip to look past the letter next to a candidate’s name. This ad is an invitation to every reader who wants results, regardless of how they have voted in the past.”
But in a state where the president is deeply unpopular, Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said that Hilton is likely trying to appeal to no party preference or independent voters with his pitch, while also making sure he keeps his main voting base happy.
“It’s clearly showing that he doesn’t want to piss Trump off, that he knows he needs Trump’s support and this is all meant to at least get Republicans excited enough to go out and vote so they’ll vote” in other races, she said. “But I don’t think there’s much chance of this moving many Democrats over to vote for him.”
Recent polling spells out the long odds Hilton faces.
A poll last month by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that surveyed voters shortly before the June primary election found Becerra favored over Hilton by more than 20 percentage points, 52% to 31%, with the Democrat leading among both men and women, all age groups and races, and in every region of the state except the North Coast and the Sierra Nevada. It found just 29% of California registered voters approve of Trump’s job performance.
Hilton, who previously served as an adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron before relocating to the United States, clinched Trump’s endorsement in April as the race to succeed Newsom narrowed. That boosted Hilton over Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to help him squeak past Democratic billionaire investor and philanthropist Tom Steyer as the runner-up behind Becerra for the November election.
In an April post on Truth Social, the president called Hilton a “truly fine man,” while Hilton said it was a “deep honor” to receive Trump’s endorsement. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Hilton’s latest ad, and Trump hasn’t posted anything about it.
Upon the ad’s release, Democrats were quick to criticize Hilton, accusing him of trying to rewrite his relationship to Trump.
Rusty Hicks, the chair of the California Democratic Party, which has endorsed Becerra, said in a statement that “Steve Hilton says he’s ‘honored’ to have Donald Trump’s endorsement, but he also knows it’s a huge liability. For his campaign and for California. But his latest spin job routine isn’t fooling anyone anywhere.”
Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for the Becerra campaign, also criticized the ad.
“Steve Hilton cheers on a president whose illegal war has sent gas prices soaring and illegal tariffs have cost California families more than $2,500 this year alone,” he said. “You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”
But Ciepielowski, Hilton’s campaign manager, said in response to the criticism that the candidate isn’t trying to distance himself from the president.
“Steve has consistently said he is proud to have the President’s endorsement and will continue to do so,” he said. “The purpose of the ad is to reach the large number of persuadable voters who are dissatisfied with California’s direction but did not vote for President Trump.”
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