James Hirsen describes his preferred candidate for California governor in his Feb. 27 column:
California is at a breaking point.
The once-Golden State has been pummeled with sky-high taxes, faded dreams of home ownership, soaring crime rates, a crumbling infrastructure, and an absentee governor consumed with national ambitions.
As California’s 2026 gubernatorial race draws near, one candidate in particular recently took the lead in the polls: Steve Hilton, a business consultant, restaurateur, and former advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Hilton has garnered national attention for his common-sense approach to revitalizing the Golden State.
Resonating with the state’s battered populace, Hilton has been focusing on working folks, as opposed to Sacramento insiders and coastal elites.
And he has zeroed-in on what voters truly care about: Good jobs, affordable homes, safe neighborhoods, and effective schools.
One thing Hirsen fails to disclose beyond noting Hilton’s previous work for Cameron: Steve Hilton is a foreigner, born in Great Britain and did not emigrate to California until 2012. Still, Hirsen insisted that “His persona is appealing, an outsider with executive experience who is not just another career politician” — despite having worked for a notable period of time in the Conservative Party machinery in Britain.
The balance of Hirsen’s column promotes Hilton campaign talking points. He concluded by gushing: “Can he end the one-party stranglehold and restore luster to the once-Golden State? Anything is possible here on the left coast.” Again, no mention of Hilton being a foreigner, which you know Hirsen would be talking about if Hilton were not a Republican.