SerpApi.Org
An underdog in the race for California governor, Republican Steve Hilton is beginning his general election campaign with a pitch directly to voters who dislike President Donald Trump in ads released Wednesday.
In an ad published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Hilton acknowledges that he’s a Republican and “Fox News guy” - a former anchor of a weekly show on the network - who was endorsed by Trump in April. But he characterizes himself as a problem-solver rather than ideologue who can solve the state’s affordability crisis.
“You don’t have to like Trump,” the ad says. “You don’t have to become a Republican. You just have to ask yourself: Does it make sense to vote the same way and expect a different result?”
TV versions of the ad will also be released this week as Hilton kicks off his general election campaign with an event targeting working class Latino voters held near the site of last month’s warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. He’ll appear alongside Gloria Romero, a former state senator and Democrat who is now running as a GOP hopeful for lieutenant governor.
A Public Policy Institute of California poll released last week found that 61% of California likely voters backed Democrat Xavier Becerra compared to 36% who backed Hilton. Other recent polls have also found a narrow majority of voters believe California is on the wrong track, a constituency Hilton has argued he can win.
Becerra’s spokesperson Jonathan Underland said voters weary of high gas and food prices “won’t find salvation in Donald Trump’s disciple.”
“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,” Underland said in a statement. “You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”
Hilton’s challenge is compounded by Trump’s approval ratings, which PPIC clocked at 28% among likely California voters. PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare said Hilton’s early general election push - far ahead of the traditional Labor Day weekend - and outreach to anti-Trump voters signaled he understood the headwinds he faces in blue-hued California.
“He’s got a lot of people to convince,” Baldassare said.
