California Gubernatorial Primary Election — Candidate Comparison
This page presents a side-by-side comparison of candidate priorities and promises in the California gubernatorial primary election.
Candidates:
- Steve Hilton (Republican) — Candidate in the California gubernatorial primary election
Candidate Priorities and Promises in the Primary Election
The table below compares the publicly stated priorities and promises of candidates competing in the primary election. Information is compiled from official campaign websites, public statements, and other verifiable sources to help voters understand where candidates stand on key issues.
About
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
I love California so much. I moved to the Bay Area over a decade ago. I’ve raised my family here, taught at Stanford, started a business, written books, hosted a TV show … lived the California dream. It’s my home, in the deepest sense. I’m a proud American, and an incredibly proud Californian too. But I’ve never forgotten where I came from. My parents were immigrants – they fled communism in Hungary to start a new life in England. In a free country. I appreciate exactly what that means. We didn’t have much money. My mother worked in a shoe store, my stepfather worked construction. My dad, who died when I was a kid, was the goalie for the Hungarian national ice hockey team. I wanted to get on in life and worked hard. Made it to Oxford University, then a job with the Conservative ...
Achievements
Priority 1
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Reduce Taxes for Workers and End the Bureaucratic War on Business: Democrat one-party rule gave California the highest unemployment in America, and the highest rate of poverty. What a devastating record – especially when we also pay the highest taxes in the country. Democrats brag about California being the “world’s fifth largest economy”, and that’s true. But that ignores the fact that over a third of Californians can’t meet their basic needs. It’s a shameful record. ...
Priority 2
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Pro-Worker, Pro-Growth Tax Reduction: California has a completely unaffordable cost of living, driven by the highest taxes in America and the highest prices for housing, rent, electricity, and water. As governor my priority will be to help working people by reducing their taxes: No tax on income under $100K 7.5% flat tax on earnings over $100k No increase in property taxes. Protect Prop.13!
Priority 3
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Return to Sensible Spending: Reducing taxes, which is urgent, will require a more sensible approach to spending. Over the last decade, government spending has more than doubled in California – from $161 billion in 2015/16 to $322 billion in 2025/26. Even after taking account of inflation, the budget has gone up by 50%. And it’s still going up! My aim is to return spending to pre-pandemic levels, where it would have been if the government had grown in line with the economy. We can do ...
Priority 4
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
End the Bureaucratic War on Business: Talk to any business in California, especially smaller businesses, and they’ll tell you regulation is their biggest nightmare. Last year, California’s Democrat Industrial Complex passed 1,200 bills containing yet more ridiculous micro-managing regulation – on top of the 420,000 regulations that already exist. Businesses are under assault from the government. Endless different agencies attacking them non-stop with rules, inspections, fees, charges, ...
Priority 5
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Restore the California Dream of a Single Family Home for Every Family: For generations, when people pictured the American Dream, it was the California Dream: a home of your own, in a safe neighborhood, with a yard where your kids could play. It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when California had the most affordable homes in the country. Now we have the highest housing costs, and the lowest home ownership. It’s impossible for most people to even think of buying a home of their ...
Priority 6
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Cap Hidden Housing Taxes: Most people don’t realize that a huge (and rising) part of the cost of housing is directly imposed by state and local government in the form of “Impact Fees” – charges that are supposed to cover the local “impact” of housing development. These have risen to astronomical levels: the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley estimates that fees can now make up nearly 20% of the typical house price. Politicians say they have to do this because Prop.13 ...
Priority 7
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Reduce Anti-housing Regulations: Every year, new regulations make it more and more expensive to build housing in California. Building codes that are constantly changing; bureaucratic state agencies like the Coastal Commission blocking development; other bureaucracies like CARB (the California Air Resources Board) or regional “air quality” bureaucracies imposing arbitrary nonsense like VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) rules, even as they try and ban gas cars … it’s all a massive roadblock to ...
Priority 8
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Stop the Unions'' Anti-housing Lawsuits: One of the main reasons housing is so crazily expensive in California, compared to other states, is the abuse of lawsuits by special interests. One of the worst examples is the abuse of CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act). Originally passed in 1970, it was never intended to cover housing, or to be used for private lawsuits. But over the years, unelected judges extended its scope and usage so that now, around 70% of CEQA lawsuits are used ...
Priority 9
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
End the War on Single Family Homes: Apart from these specific policy changes, we need a change of attitude. For too long, the Democrat ruling elite have been fighting a war on single family homes. They want everyone to live in apartments and take public transit everywhere, as if we were living in some European city. But this is California! That’s not how people want to live here! Especially when they have children, families want the space and freedom of a single family home with a yard for ...
Priority 10
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
Ensure that 100% of Students Meet State Math and English Standards: California’s public schools are failing. Only 35 percent of K-12 students meet state math standards, and only 47 percent meet state English language standards. Nearly two thirds of California’s Latino students and 70% of Black students do not meet basic standards in English; for math it is even worse, 77% of Latinos and 83% of Black kids do not meet basic standards. This is not about “resources” as is sometimes claimed...
Promise 1
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor I will appoint a Covid Accountability Commission to make sure justice is done." @SteveHiltonx (October 4, 2025)
Promise 2
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"Restoring the California Dream for working families will be my priority as governor. VETO SB 79." @SteveHiltonx (October 6, 2025)
Promise 3
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor, I won’t sign ANY bill that does not make life easier, simpler, and more affordable for California families and businesses." @SteveHiltonx (October 13, 2025)
Promise 4
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"When I am governor we will not need federal troops to do the job that Democrat cities and counties should be doing. If cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco refuse to clean up their act, I will use state ..." @SteveHiltonx (October 12, 2025)
Promise 5
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor, I’ll cut bloat, reduce taxes, and eliminate the red tape that’s hurting hardworking Californians." @SteveHiltonx (October 15, 2025)
Promise 6
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"When I’m elected governor, I will do everything in my power to overturn the unconstitutional AB 495." @SteveHiltonx (October 17, 2025)
Promise 7
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor, my plan will bring gas prices down to $3.00 and put money back in the pockets of hardworking Californians." @SteveHiltonx (October 21, 2025)
Promise 8
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor, I will make 3rd grade literacy and numeracy a top education priority. My plan includes structural change, immediate classroom reforms, and full accountability to parents. ..." @SteveHiltonx (October 26, 2025)
Promise 9
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"When I’m governor, I will fix the prison overcrowding crisis, restore consequences for crime, and make prisons more effective at reducing repeat offending. Californians deserve to feel safe in their communities." @SteveHiltonx (October 29, 2025)
Promise 10
Score: / 22 Steve Hilton:
"As governor I will END the absurdity and restore common sense." @SteveHiltonx (November 4, 2025)
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