President Donald Trump endorsed Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host running for California governor as a Republican, late Sunday, days before the GOP is set to meet in San Diego to back a candidate.
Hilton and his Republican rival, Chad Bianco, hold a lead ahead of eight prominent Democratic candidates, according to recent polls from UC Berkeley.
“I have known and respected Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California, for many years,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social. “He is truly a fine man…With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can do better than ever before!”
Hilton, the current front-runner in the most recent UC Berkeley polls — which had him in front at 17% of the vote — is running against fellow Republican Bianco, who the poll showed just behind at 16%, and a field of 10 Democrats seeking to succeed Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and poised to run for president in 2028, according to the LA Times.
Under California’s primary system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary will advance to the general election in November, regardless of party affiliation, according to California’s Secretary of State website.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Hilton said via his campaign’s X account. “This is the moment California has been waiting for!”
In an interview Saturday, Bianco expressed his thoughts on Trump weighing in on the race, saying “Of course, I would want him to support me,” according to the LA Times. Bianco took to Instagram to provide his reaction to the endorsement on Monday afternoon.
“This race is about the future of California, not any one endorsement,” Bianco said. “Today, I have been singled out as the only candidate in this race fighting for every Californian.”
Trump’s “powerful” endorsement of Hilton came after Hilton met Bianco at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, for a debate on Sunday, according to the LA Times. Bianco emphasized reducing taxes and easing regulations on businesses while Hilton stressed the need for a Republican governor, stating he would support Bianco in the election if Hilton did not make it, according to Rancho Mirage Today.
Hilton, a former United Kingdom citizen, spoke of his British roots in his introduction video on his campaign’s website. Hilton said his parents escaped communism in Hungary and moved to England, where Hilton studied at Oxford University and worked in Margaret Thatcher’s government before serving as a political adviser to Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. Hilton then moved to California, where he has lived since 2012, and served as host of the Fox News Sunday night program The Next Revolution from 2017 to 2023.
“I am honored to receive the endorsement of President Donald J. Trump,” Hilton said in a campaign statement to Annenberg Media. “I’m grateful for the president’s support. Together, we can turn things around and make California truly Golden Again.”
In an interview with NBCLA on March 22, Hilton confirmed with political reporter Conan Nolan that he had been trying to get Bianco to drop out of the race.
Hours after Trump’s endorsement, CNN announced a two-hour gubernatorial debate on May 5 at 6 p.m. PT at a venue in the Los Angeles area that is yet to be stated. The debate will be moderated by CNN anchors Elex Michaelson and Kaitlan Collins and feature all candidates who hold at least 3% support among likely primary voters in two or more state polls released between Feb. 1 and April 27 and who have raised or contributed at least $1 million to their campaigns, according to the announcement.
“One out of approximately every eight Americans lives in the Golden State and it is at the forefront of some of the most complex challenges of our time,” CNN political director David Chalian told the LA Times on Monday.
The previously scheduled debate, which was co-sponsored by USC and KABC and was set to be held at USC on March 24, was canceled just hours before its set time, according to NBC News, The cancellation followed controversy surrounding the exclusion of all the nonwhite gubernatorial candidates.
The debate provides the 10 Democratic candidates an opportunity to find separation in the wide field after Trump’s endorsement of Republican Hilton.
“Trump’s endorsement of Steve Hilton likely frees up tens of millions of dollars for Democratic groups who would have otherwise had to spend heavily to elevate one of the two leading GOP gubernatorial candidates to avoid a Democratic lockout,” political data expert Rob Pyers of California Target Book told Politico on Monday.
The top two Democratic candidates, Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter, each hold 13% of the vote and trail behind the GOP candidates, according to the UC Berkeley polls.
Already, Democratic candidates are responding to the endorsement. “If there was any doubt what this race is about, now it’s certain: It’s California values against MAGA,” Katie Porter, former House Representative and Democrat candidate for governor, said on X.
“Donald Trump can’t help himself because Congressman Swalwell has him running scared,” Swalwell campaign spokesperson Micah Beasley said in a statement to Annenberg Media.
“Congratulations to Fox News personality, Steve Hilton, on officially being designated the Trump puppet in the California governor’s race.”