Steve Hilton, Republican candidate for California governor, criticized the slow pace of the state's ballot counting and detailed a set of economic proposals aimed at lowering costs for residents and small businesses. As of Friday evening tallies, Hilton trailed Xavier Becerra by a narrow margin—26.35% to 26.78%—with Tom Steyer in third at 21.05%. Hilton singled out Ventura and Marin counties for slow reporting and proposed measures such as a $100,000 tax-free threshold, elimination of an annual $800 small-business fee, and capping vehicle registration at $71 per year. He said he would work with a Republican federal administration when policies benefit California but would oppose measures he judges harmful, including removing Customs and Border Protection from state airports.
Hilton Pushes Reforms and Criticizes Slow California Vote Count
Editor’s Note: This episode of Inside California Politics was recorded on a Friday afternoon before the Associated Press projected that former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra would be one of the two candidates likely to advance to the November general election.
(INSIDE CALIFORNIA POLITICS) — On this week’s Inside California Politics, host Nikki Laurenzo spoke with Republican gubernatorial candidate and commentator Steve Hilton about his campaign, a slate of policy proposals and his sharp critique of California’s vote-counting process.
Early Results And A Narrow Margin
As of Friday evening’s tallies, Hilton was listed with 26.35% of counted ballots, narrowly trailing Xavier Becerra at 26.78%. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer trailed in third with about 21.05%.
Criticism Of Vote Counting
Hilton criticized the pace of California’s ballot counting — an issue that has drawn attention in recent cycles and has been acknowledged by Gov. Gavin Newsom. He contrasted California’s timeline with faster counts overseas and in other U.S. states.
“It’s embarrassing. You look at somewhere like India: 640 million votes counted in 24 hours,” Hilton said. “Other states in America — Florida does roughly the same number of votes... and yet they get it all done within a matter of hours.”
He cited county examples to illustrate his point. “Ventura County, for example, said their next update was going to be Tuesday, June the 9th,” Hilton said, noting the county website showed roughly 86,000 ballots still to be counted. He also criticized Marin County’s limited counting hours, asking, “Why nine to five? Where’s the hustle? Where’s the energy? Where’s the ambition?”
Policy Agenda: Cost Relief And Small-Business Support
Hilton framed his policy platform as practical and aimed at lowering costs for Californians. Key proposals he described include:
- Making the first $100,000 of income tax-free for eligible households;
- Eliminating the roughly $800 annual fee that small businesses pay simply to exist;
- Capping vehicle registration fees at the basic registration rate of $71 per vehicle per year.
“There’s many more things like that,” Hilton said, arguing these steps would reduce the day-to-day struggle of living and doing business in California.
National Politics And Independent Judgement
On relations with a potential Republican federal administration, Hilton said he would be willing to cooperate where policies benefit California but would not automatically defer to national leaders. “My attitude is let’s find the places where we agree,” he said, adding he will judge policies on whether they help the state.
He gave one example of disagreement: he rejected a proposal that would remove Customs and Border Protection from California’s international airports and divert international flights to airports in other states. “No, that doesn’t make sense at all,” he said.
The interview is part of Inside California Politics’ coverage of the gubernatorial contest. Watch the full episode of Inside California Politics in the video player at the top of the page.
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