Politics
Longtime Fox News Host Launches Run For Governor
Steve Hilton, a familiar face to Fox News viewers and a former adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, has officially entered the race for California governor. In a campaign video released Monday morning, Hilton cast himself as a champion of working people and freedom, promising to shake up what he called the state’s “Democrat one-party rule” and restore the California Dream.
“It’s time to make California Golden Again,” Hilton said on X. “We need some balance here after 15 years of Democrat one-party rule. Positive, practical policies that actually help people, not ideological crusades.”
The 2-minute campaign video opens with Hilton recalling his family’s flight from communism in Hungary and his upbringing in working-class England. “It all started with freedom,” Hilton said. “My parents fled communism in Hungary. So I was born in England, a free country, but a country in rapid decline.”
From there, Hilton traced his journey from Oxford University to working for Margaret Thatcher, whom he credited with inspiring his belief in free enterprise. “She unleashed the spirit of enterprise in England. She inspired me,” he said. “I started a business, even a couple of restaurants… Later, I helped elect a prime minister, worked in 10 Downing Street.”
Hilton moved to California in 2012, calling it “the ultimate expression of America, the home of freedom. Or it should be.” After teaching at Stanford and hosting The Next Revolution on Fox News, Hilton said he became an American citizen — an achievement he described as “one of the proudest days of my life.”
But Hilton didn’t shy away from criticism of the state’s handling of recent crises.
“Look at these pictures — the chaos, the crime, the collapse of the California dream,” he said, showing images of lockdowns, homelessness, and crime-ridden streets. “This is not just any other state. California means to America what America means to the world.”
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On his campaign website, Hilton paints a dire portrait of the state’s current conditions: rising housing costs, rolling blackouts, deteriorating infrastructure, and nearly a million residents lacking access to clean drinking water. “We were once the land of opportunity — but now we have the highest housing costs and worst business climate in America,” the site states.
Hilton also took aim at California’s regulatory environment. “The home of free spirits and rebels has become plagued by endless rules and regulations… telling people what to do and how to live. What car to drive. How to cook your food. Even telling parents how to raise their own kids.”
Throughout his message, Hilton emphasized the need to end Democratic dominance in Sacramento, blaming the party for “long-term policy failures, serial mismanagement and staggering incompetence,” citing the Los Angeles wildfires as one example.
“There’s only one way to do it,” Hilton said. “We need to end the one-party rule that got us into this mess. That’s why I’m running for Governor. To make this beautiful state that we love so much truly golden again.”
The race for California governor is expected to draw national attention as the state continues to wrestle with economic uncertainty, crime concerns, and a mass exodus of businesses and families.
