Reality TV Star, Ex-Fox News Host Emerge as Serious GOP Contenders in California Primaries

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Actually prevailing in November would be an uphill climb. The GOP hasn’t won statewide office since 2006, when Arnold Schwarzenegger gained reelection as a moderate Republican governor with near-universal name recognition. 

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These days, Trump’s approval rating has suffered in California as he has turned the state into a punching bag and its average price of gas tops $6 a gallon amid his war against Iran. 

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Newsom Contrast

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Hilton doesn’t mention his endorsement from Trump or anyone else on his website. But he argues it would benefit the state to have a governor who has a friendly relationship with the White House.

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“It’s helpful to have a candidate and someone who’s your governor who happens to be friends with half the cabinet,” he told supporters at the brewery event, contrasting himself to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a regular sparring partner of Trump’s and a potential White House hopeful in 2028. 

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Hilton, 56, has spent years around power. The son of Hungarian immigrants, he studied at Oxford University and worked as a political ad man before climbing the ranks of the Conservative Party. He served as an adviser to David Cameron during the latter’s time as opposition leader and later as UK prime minister.

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Even then, there was a little California in Hilton. His casual style in the buttoned-up world of British politics became a subject of parody, inspiring a character on the BBC political sitcom called The Thick of It who drinks herbal tea and spouts zany policy ideas.

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Hilton’s wife, Rachel Whetstone, took a series of senior roles as a spokeswoman for tech companies including Google, Uber and Netflix. After the couple and their two children moved full time to California in 2012, settling in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb of Atherton, Hilton steeped himself in American politics. He emerged as a conservative commentator, landed a show on Fox News, and opened a California-focused think tank. 

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His latest book, Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America’s Worst-Run State, is his attempt at diagnosing what ails the state and prescribing a cure through leaner government. In short, he argues that slashing regulations would reduce costs for consumers and spur construction of everything from housing to energy infrastructure, all making the state more affordable. 

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He has also proposed taking a light regulatory touch with California’s juggernaut artificial-intelligence industry — an appealing message to a tech industry facing a long list of proposed worker and consumer protections from the state legislature.

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While Hilton has embraced many contemporary MAGA priorities, such as opposing trans athletes’ participation in girls’ sports, parts of his agenda would also set him on a collision course with industry. Hilton is proposing to lower electric bills in part by breaking up PG&E Corp. — a position also embraced by Steyer — and said Saturday he wants to look into competition in the health insurance industry. 

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“He just truly believes power, as far as possible, should be pushed down to local communities because that’s what drives accountability, what drives experimentation,” said Rohan Silva, a friend and former colleague from Hilton’s time working in British government, adding that the candidate’s skepticism of big government often extends to big business, too.

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Reality TV Star

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There’s a strong element of populism in Pratt’s campaign as well. The 42-year-old gained notoriety as one of the most disliked personalities in reality TV (he leaned into the reputation, titling his memoir The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions From a Reality TV Villain). Now he’s trying to connect with voters with a straightforward message: He’s mad.