Longtime Fox News Host Announces Run For Governor In BLUE State
Steve Hilton, once a key adviser to former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and a familiar face to Fox News viewers, has officially launched his campaign for California governor. In a campaign video released Monday, Hilton positioned himself as a champion of "working people and freedom," vowing to challenge what he described as the “Democrat one-party rule” and to rekindle the “California Dream.”
“It’s time to make California Golden Again,” Hilton declared in a post 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 two-minute video opens with Hilton recounting his family’s flight from communist Hungary and his upbringing in a working-class neighborhood in England. “It all began with freedom,” he states. “Under communist rule in Hungary, my parents escaped. I was born in England, which is a free country but also a country that is decreasing at a rapid rate.”
Hilton goes on to describe his personal journey—from attending Oxford University to working under former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom he credits for his belief in free-market principles. “Her actions sparked an entrepreneurial spirit in England,” Hilton recalls. “I was motivated by her. I started a business, sometimes even a couple of restaurants,” he adds, eventually serving at 10 Downing Street and playing a role in a prime minister’s campaign.
By 2012, Hilton had moved to California, calling it “the ultimate expression of America, the home of freedom. Or it should be.” After becoming a U.S. citizen, an experience he described as “one of the proudest days of my life,” he taught at Stanford and hosted The Next Revolution on Fox News.
However, Hilton was blunt about what he sees as the state’s recent failures. “Look at these pictures — the chaos, the crime, the collapse of the California dream,” he said, over images of lockdowns, homelessness, and deteriorating city streets. “This is not just any other state. California means to America what America means to the world.”
On his campaign website, Hilton paints a stark picture of California's condition—highlighting blackouts, skyrocketing housing costs, infrastructure breakdowns, and nearly a million residents lacking clean drinking water. “We used to be the land of opportunity, but now we have the worst business climate and the highest housing costs in America,” the site claims.
He also took aim at the state’s bureaucracy. “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 announcement, Hilton held the Democratic leadership responsible for what he described as “long-term policy failures, serial mismanagement, and staggering incompetence.” He pointed to the wildfires in Los Angeles as a symptom of these deeper issues and urged voters to bring change to Sacramento.
“There’s only one way to do it,” he 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.”
Despite ongoing challenges in California—from economic instability to public safety concerns and the exodus of residents and companies—the gubernatorial race is expected to draw national interest.