California Gov. Gavin Newsom has run out of reelection opportunities due to term limits. When polls in the primary race to replace him closed last night, votes had not been conclusively counted. In the gubernatorial race, Republican Steve Hilton is currently leading estimates at 27.8 percent of the vote over two Democratic candidates, Xavier Becerra (25.4 percent) and Tom Steyer (19.6 percent), with 56 percent of the total ballots counted.
After taking an early lead last night, Steve Hilton addressed a crowd in Huntington Beach, stating, “We’re not there yet, but we’re looking good.” Originally born in London, England, Hilton moved to California in 2012, where he co-founded a tech startup and later attained his U.S. citizenship. Addressing his foreign roots during his speech, Hilton opened the two sides of his suit jacket to reveal the U.S. and California flags stitched into the lining, affirming, “I am a proud American, and a very proud Californian.”
Promoting his slogan “Change is coming,” Hilton advocates for supporting small businesses, lowering gas prices, and reducing electric bills. “We’ve got everything we need to make California golden again, except for a good governor,” Hilton told the crowd, “and very soon we will have that as well.”
Hilton included a nod to Republican candidate Spencer Pratt’s performance in the Los Angeles mayoral election, saying, “It looks very much like change is coming to Los Angeles as well.” Pratt is running against the Democratic incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass. Currently, Pratt closely trails Bass by a 4 percent gap, with 40 percent of the votes left to be counted.
When asked on Tuesday how he felt about the race, Pratt said, “This is the first time since 2005 an incumbent is going to a runoff. This is not a candidate that I am too concerned about.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Pratt entered the race following Mayor Bass’s political failures, specifically her mishandling of the Palisade fires and the city’s growing drug crisis. “I got into this because as a citizen, my city was failing,” Pratt said last night.
Pratt lost his own home in the Palisades wildfires, which destroyed 6,800 buildings and tragically took the lives of 12 people.
In an interview with NBC, Pratt said the crisis in LA “Is not a homelessness problem, it’s a drug addiction problem. And the way you help drug addicts is you get them mandatory help with doctors and plans.” Rather than giving direct funds to different NGOs that provide addicts needles, Pratt plans to establish a rehabilitation facility. Pratt claims the current administration’s plan is “not how you get somebody in a bed. That’s how you get somebody in a grave.”
Caroline Petersen is an editorial intern at The American Spectator.
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