After the polls closed and early votes were counted for the California gubernatorial race late Tuesday night, Republican candidate Steve Hilton held a press conference on the west steps of the California Capitol Wednesday morning.
The latest counts show Hilton as the top vote-getter for the state, followed closely by top Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra.
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“I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the next few months,” Hilton said to the assembled press. “I’m sure you’re thrilled about that.”
Hilton received an endorsement from President Donald Trump in April. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 70% of Californians disapprove of Trump. Hilton said that he wasn’t worried about Trump’s disapproval rating impacting his campaign.
“I think it's going to be very helpful for Californians to have a governor who has a good working relationship with the president and his team,” Hilton said. “It happens to be that we see eye-to-eye on many of the issues that are going to help Californians in a very practical way.”
Insight host Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Republican political strategist Rob Stutzman Wednesday afternoon. Stutzman said that an endorsement from Trump helped reach Republican voters, but it wasn’t the only thing convincing conservative voters they should vote for Hilton over fellow Republican candidate Chad Bianco.
“If they were looking for a signal on who they should be picking between Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, Trump’s endorsement certainly was important,” Stutzman said. “I think Hilton was going to win this anyway, even without that endorsement. He was a better candidate, he had a better organized campaign… He’s been working at it longer and probably working at it harder.”
While results are still not certified, Hilton expressed confidence that his name will be on the ballot for the November election.
“I think most people believe now that it's very hard to see a situation where either of the two Democrats … who are in contention for those spots both overtake the votes that we’ve seen over the last night,” Hilton said.
While Hilton may make it on the ballot, Stutzman said that it would be an uphill battle for Hilton to win the governor's seat in November.
“At the end of the day, only about 38% of the vote’s going to go to Republicans, so still a tough hill to climb for Steve Hilton,” Stutzman said. “Republicans haven’t had a really good nominee for governor in a long time… Hilton’s going to breathe a little energy into Republican voters who are very tired of not being able to win anything. I’m not sure he can bring home a victory.”
Hilton said that he wants to work with Democrats in order to change California. He focused on addressing housing and education.
“I’m really looking forward to working with everyone to bring change to California. Republicans, and beyond the Republican Party,” Hilton said. “Matt Mahan and I see things in very much the same way in policy terms… We’ve got to have common sense, practical policies to make life better in California.”
Hilton will be holding a rally at 6 p.m. tonight on the east lawn of the Capitol across the street from the Hyatt Regency Sacramento hotel at 1209 L Street.
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