Steve Hilton leads California polls ahead of primary
Steve Hilton is leading in most polls in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom as California governor, with less than six weeks left before the primary. The Republican candidate has built that position while campaigning across the state and telling supporters he thinks his bid can win.
He has the largest number of individual campaign donors and ranks third in fundraising behind Tom Steyer and Matt Mahan. Hilton also told a crowd in Huntington Beach, "Each day that goes by, I believe more and more that we can pull this off. There is a majority for change in California."
Hilton’s California Campaign
Hilton is a British transplant, former business entrepreneur, former Downing Street adviser to David Cameron and former host. He has visited almost every corner of California during the campaign and often appears in single-button T-shirts rather than suits and ties, a style that sets him apart from other candidates in the field.
The crowded Democratic field has not produced a clear frontrunner, and a second Republican, Riverside County sheriff Chad Bianco, is also polling in the top tier. Eric Swalwell was drummed out of the race and out of politics last month after sexual assault and misconduct allegations; he strongly denied the claims.
California Democrats Face Loss
The polling is unusual in a state where Democrats hold supermajorities in the legislature and have a two-to-one advantage over Republicans in voter registration. State Democratic party leaders are fretting about the possibility of losing control of California for the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger won the governor’s office in 2003.
Under a Schwarzenegger-era reform, California no longer uses a traditional partisan runoff system in the general election, so the primary effectively determines which candidates can advance to the final race. That leaves Hilton’s early lead as the clearest test yet of whether his campaign can turn scattered Republican and swing support into a path to the governor’s office.
Newsom Successor Race
Hilton is trying to succeed Gavin Newsom at a moment when Republican statewide wins in California have been especially difficult over the past two decades. The race now turns on whether his polling edge can hold as the primary gets closer and the Democratic field keeps dividing its vote.
