Steve Hilton launches California governor bid in Huntington Beach
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Steve Hilton made it clear early in his comments Tuesday morning why he chose Huntington Beach to launch his California gubernatorial bid for 2026.
The 55-year-old Republican podcaster and former Fox News host, originally from England, said he admired the way current city leaders flipped the City Council from majority Democrat to all Republican in a matter of a few of years.
“Here’s why we’re here,” he said during a rally at Pier Plaza. “The spirit of Huntington Beach is going to be the spirit that saves our beautiful state of California and makes this state truly golden again.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that we can’t change California,” he added, referring to the current council as the “MAGA-nificent Seven.” “This city shows us how we can.”
Hilton, who had announced he was running on Monday, said Surf City felt like home to him. The commentator hopes to be making Sacramento home by 2027, throwing his hat into the ring of a crowded governor race alongside fellow Republican Chad Bianco, a Riverside County sheriff known for defying state mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats who have declared for the race include Toni Atkins, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Stephen Cloobeck, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former U.S. Rep. from Orange County Katie Porter, State Supt. Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Democratic Party vice-chair Betty Yee and Michael Younger.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, is reportedly expected to decide by late summer if she will also run for California governor.
Republicans have not been elected to a statewide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger won a second term in 2006.
Hilton, an Atherton resident who became a U.S. citizen in 2021, came out swinging against Harris.
“She’s looming, like the marine layer threatening to come in and blot out the sun that we have here today,” Hilton said, before mentioning the former vice president’s name to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
“It’s never about us,” he said. “It’s always about her … She says she is ‘intrigued’ by the prospect of being the first Black woman governor in America. Let me tell you, leading the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth is not some consolation prize to be handed out to a failed and rejected machine politician from Washington, who can barely string a coherent sentence together and who thinks she should get this job because of her identity, not her ability. So, bring it Kamala. If you decide to run for governor, we will beat you again.”
Hilton also held a video call at the rally with Vivek Ramaswamy, a 2024 presidential candidate currently running for governor of Ohio.
The rally had a decidedly Huntington Beach feel. Newly appointed Council member and celebrity chef Andrew Gruel served as the emcee, while Council members Gracey Van Der Mark and Chad Williams also gave remarks.
Tony Strickland, the former member of the City Council who was elected to state Senate District 36 via a special election in February, also appeared via a prerecorded video message and said he was a co-chair of Hilton’s campaign.
“Let’s turn California around and make it the golden state it once was, and will always be in the future, with your help,” Strickland said.
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