Steve Hilton Tells Newsmax California Democrats Are ‘Flustered,’ Compares One-Party Rule to Authoritarianism

Republican candidate Steve Hilton told Newsmax on Friday that California Democrats are growing "flustered" by his gubernatorial campaign and accused the state's one-party dominance of showing contempt for voters. In a wide-ranging interview, Hilton likened California’s Democratic control to authoritarian systems abroad and criticized local leaders for failing to address public-safety and quality-of-life issues.

Hilton, a British-born former Fox host and one-time adviser to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, is the Republican nominee facing Democrat Xavier Becerra in the Nov. 3 general election. He is campaigning in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since 2006 and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

"It's actually very similar in a way to China," Hilton said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "You know, it's a good fit: one-party rule, authoritarianism. That's actually the way things go in California when they haven't got a challenge. But they do have a challenge this year, and that's why they're getting pretty flustered."

The interview followed a controversy involving Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, whose podcast remarks — reported by Fox 11 — suggested she expected Becerra to win and questioned whether voters would elect "a Republican with a British accent." Hilton called the comments arrogant and hypocritical.

"These are the people who never stop lecturing us about democracy, how much they care about democracy, except when it's about their power," Hilton said, adding that criticisms about accents can be hypocritical when applied selectively.

Hilton also described a recent Los Angeles walk-through with Fox 11 in which he said he encountered people passed out on sidewalks and what he called "zombie drug addicts." After viewing the clip of Bass's remarks, he said he told reporters, "She needs to clean up her city." He urged changes such as overturning the state's sidewalk-vending law as part of a broader call to address street conditions.

On the broader causes of voter dissatisfaction, Hilton blamed local leadership rather than national politics. "Two million people have left California in the last seven years," he said. "They're not fleeing Trump. They're fleeing Karen Bass and the Democrats, and they're moving to states run by Republicans, where taxes are lower, costs are lower, the streets are cleaner and safer, and the business climate is more positive."

The article notes that California experienced substantial migration losses to other states during recent years, though the state's overall population has begun to grow again after pandemic-era declines. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) continues to identify interstate migration as a significant source of population loss.

Reporting notes: Remarks were made on "Rob Schmitt Tonight" and on a podcast cited by Fox 11. The article has been edited for clarity and to remove promotional material included in the original report.