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Republican Steve Hilton to California voters: It’s OK to vote for me even if you don’t like President Trump

August 21, 2026

“Can you be anti-Trump but still vote for me?”

That’s the question California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has been posing to voters. And if you ask him, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

“You don’t have to like (President Donald) Trump. You don’t have to become a Republican. You just have to ask yourself: does it make sense to vote the same way and expect a different result?” Hilton goes on to say in a full-page ad that recently ran in a few California newspapers.

Some might think it unorthodox for Hilton, a former Fox News political commentator and a Republican who’s been endorsed by Trump, to make such statements.

For others, it’s unsurprising. In fact, they say, it makes perfect sense.

Political observers say Hilton, who’s running against Democrat and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in the general election, knows he must appeal to independent voters, and even some Democrats, for any chance to win this November.

California is a deep-blue state, where Democrats enjoy a 20 percentage-point voter registration advantage over Republicans (45% v. 25%). Nearly 10.4 million of the state’s 23.2 million voters are Democrats; almost 5.8 million are Republicans.

“He (Hilton) certainly cannot get elected to statewide office in California without getting the lion’s share of the independent votes and a good chunk of the Democratic vote,” said Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party.

“If Steve Hilton can’t attract people to his candidacy who don’t like Donald Trump, Steve Hilton will not be governor. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

Hilton, in an interview this week, said that his message — that one doesn’t need to be a Trump supporter to choose him if what they want is change — is resonating with voters.

There’s a majority of Californians who believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, Hilton said.

“There’s clearly a large group of Californians who want change, don’t want to continue with one-party rule, but don’t think of themselves as Republicans,” he said. “That’s obviously a very important part of our campaign, to show that we are open to everyone who wants to see something change in California.”

A Public Policy Institute of California survey conducted in May found 57% of California adults and 52% of likely voters feel things in the state are generally headed in the wrong direction.

Becerra, who was the top vote-getter in the primary election, is also reaching out to all voters, from Democrats to the undecided and “anyone who wants to lean in and get work done,” according to his campaign.

“Republicans, Democrats and ‘no party preference’ and undecided voters are all facing the same issues: price of gas, food, how much it costs to pay their energy bills. He’s out there presenting solutions that everyone can get on board with,” said Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for the Becerra campaign.

“We’re building a coalition of Californians that reflects the make-up of the state,” Underland added.

Xavier Becerra, California gubernatorial candidate, speaks at the NALEO (Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Recent polls have Becerra with double-digit leads over Hilton among likely voters.

Last month, the Public Policy Institute of California found, in another poll, that Becerra had a 25 percentage-point advantage among likely voters (61% for Becerra versus 36% for Hilton).

And last week, a poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies had Becerra leading by 18 points (55% versus 37%) among likely voters.

But being a Republican in a heavily Democratic state means Hilton was the underdog candidate from the get-go. And Trump’s endorsement of him — which Hilton has said he’s “grateful” for — also has him walking a political tightrope in the general election.

The Public Policy Institute poll from May found just 30% of likely voters in California approved of Trump’s job performance.

In his recent ad, Hilton tells voters: “Yes, I’m the Republican. The ‘Fox News guy.’ Endorsed by Trump. But this election is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what you love here” in California.

His campaign described the ad as a “permission slip” for voters to vote, not based on political party, but on which candidate they agree with on the issues.

Loyola Marymount University political science professor Fernando Guerra believes Hilton is attempting to distance himself from Trump in the general election.

There was greater emphasis on being the Trump-endorsed candidate, Guerra said, during the primary election when Hilton was competing with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate, for GOP votes.

But the general election requires Hilton to woo more than just GOP voters to win it all.

“Changing or pivoting your message from the primary is not unusual for Republicans, Democrats, independents or even in nonpartisan elections. It happens all the time,” said Guerra, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount.

Hilton disagreed with the characterization that he’s distancing himself from the president. Rather, he said, his campaign is building on the support they already have by making clear that non-Republican voters who don’t support Trump “have a home” in his campaign.

Meanwhile, Dan Schnur, who teaches political messaging at USC and UC Berkeley, said Hilton must “walk an incredibly difficult line between distancing himself from Trump in a deep-blue state without alienating or angering the president and his supporters.”

Although Schnur views Trump’s endorsement as a liability for Hilton, he believes the Republican candidate would be at a disadvantage in the general election regardless.

“The Trump endorsement certainly helped him in the primary. It almost just as certainly hurts him in a general election,” Schnur said. “But even if Trump hadn’t endorsed, Hilton would still have the obstacle of an ‘R’ after his name in a deep-blue state.”

The last time Californians elected a Republican to the state’s top post was 20 years ago when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election.

Whether Hilton will end Democrats’ winning streak for this office will be determined over the next several weeks.

Ballots for the general election will be mailed to registered voters in early October, with the voting period ending Nov. 3.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican Steve Hilton to California voters: It’s OK to vote for me even if you don’t like President Trump Orange County Register

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Republican Steve Hilton to California voters: It’s OK to vote for me even if you don’t like President Trump

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