One-on-one with Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton

I want to get you caught up on the California gubernatorial race. We know that is one that many Californians are watching and honestly, people across the country as well. So we want to show you this. We know that the Democrat, Javier Becerra, ended up voting in Sacramento this morning, which is where he was born and raised. And we also want to show you the moment where. Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton also voted in this election. He voted in Menlo Park, which is near Stanford. And speaking of Steve Hilton, we actually have a live interview right now with the gubernatorial candidate. So to start, Steve Hilton, thank you so much for taking the time to hop on here to speak with us on Election Day. Great to be with you. Thank you. So, Steve, first question for you. Obviously, you've been campaigning for months now. Today is finally Election Day. What is your final message to California voters? Look, we've been doing the same thing in California for 16 years, one party running everything, and it's given us results that are disappointing. The highest cost of living in the country, gas prices, housing costs, taxes, rent, everything is so expensive. We've got homelessness everywhere. It seems to get worse the more money we spend on it. It's time to try something different, to go in a new direction. I've got positive, practical plans. $3 gas, Your first 150 grand tax-free. Car and truck registration capped at $73 a year and ending mass homelessness by the end of my first year in office. I've got plans to do that. I've been traveling the state, developing solutions. We've been to every one of our 58 counties. We've been doing rallies all over the state. Thousands of people coming out. There's an energy and enthusiasm behind our campaign. We haven't seen in California for at least 20 years. So we can get this change. If we just go out and vote for it, there's still a few hours left. So if you haven't voted yet and you want change in California, go out and vote for it. And Steve, you mentioned some of those proposals that have a lot of people talking, including that three dollar gas. So we want to dive a little bit deeper into those proposals. I'm going to start with the three dollar gas that has become very popular for people here in California as a talking point. If you can talk about how that can be accomplished and if you are elected governor, how soon drivers could see that? Well, we won't get to three dollars overnight. It'll take a bit of time. Remember, before the Iran war, there were 40 states in America where gas was three dollars or below. Most of them don't have oil reserves. What I announced yesterday was my day one plan. And top of the list is an executive order to suspend the hidden taxes on gas. That would reduce the gas price by up to 85 cents. Almost immediately. So that's the quickest change we could get. That's a big change. And then the other change is opening up California production to replace expensive foreign imports of oil. We're now importing nearly 80% of our oil. That's crazy when we have reserves right here in California. And bringing up to date the regulations on refining that make it twice as expensive to produce gas here compared to other states. Those are the things that will get us to $3 gas. In the longer term. And Steve, why do you think these things haven't been accomplished yet? Why haven't other administrations been able to pull this off? Well, they don't want you I mean, they don't want you driving. They're trying to put people off. Driving their cars. It's ideological. They have a vision for California, which is people, you know, cycling and walking and living in dense downtowns and using public transit. They are trying to discourage you from driving your car. So this is deliberate. And you can see it in the announcement that Javier Becerra made just at the end of last week. He slipped it in right at the end of the campaign. He's now backing a mileage tax, which will track you and tax you every mile you drive. California on top of all the other things we're paying. It's not instead of the gas tax. It's on top of it. He made that clear. This would be up to a thousand dollars a year extra for the average Californian. If you use your car or your truck for work, it could be much more than that. Up to four thousand a year. Imagine that just taxing you the more you drive. It's Crazy, but it shows you where they're coming from. I'm dead against all of that. That's another very simple choice in this election. Still got time to vote to stop Becerra's mileage tax because I would veto it. So like you said, you would veto it. And we want to bounce to that other proposal that's getting a lot of attention as well. The fact that you have proposed to eliminate state income tax on the first 150,000 that people make. If you can talk about how you would be able to make up that lost revenue without cutting essential services. Well, we've got to cut the budget. The budget of California is now double what it was 10 years ago. It's increased by over 100%. Is there anything that's 100% better? By the way, that's happened as millions of people have been leaving our state. We're obviously not getting good value for the taxes that we pay. So the actual cost of reducing, eliminating state income tax for the first 150 grand that people make is about $25 billion. The way we achieve that is number one. One, cancel high-speed rail. That's another day one commitment. Number two, cut out the fraud and the improper payments in the Medi-Cal system. The government, the current government of California, estimates that's about $12 billion of improper payments. The third element of... What we're going to do to reduce that spending is a 5% efficiency cut across all government departments. If you work in the private sector, as I have done most of my career, most of my career has been in business, everyone is used to the idea that you make things more efficient. You try and deliver more for less. The government never does that. Well, when I'm governor, we will. That's how we pay for your first 150 grand tax-free. And Steve, would these proposals require approval from the legislature? And if so, how do you plan to accomplish getting them on board? Some of them do, some of them don't. So on the gas price, the suspension of the hidden gas taxes that can take 85 cents off the cost, that can be done through executive order. That's why I announced yesterday. Same with opening up oil production in California. Same with some of the regulations, because they come out of the executive branch, which is controlled by the governor. So in a simple way, regulations are easier for the governor to change on his or her own. It's taxes where you definitely need to work with the legislature. So, yes, I announced I'll be sending my emergency budget with those spending reductions and tax reductions to the legislature in a special session. I think we can actually expect some cooperation there during the primary for Governor Katie Porter, one of my Democrat Colleagues in that race, she said that she endorsed that tax plan, the idea that working class Californians shouldn't pay state income tax. So I think we can find some allies for that, even among the Democrats. And Steve, of course, you received an endorsement from President Donald Trump, but you've really emphasized your independence from him as well. How do you make that plea to California voters who disagree with President Trump and his administration and policies? Well, I understand that completely. There are millions of Californians who feel that way, and that's absolutely their right. But this election's not about that. This is about the policies we control in California. Trump's not on the ballot. It's me or Becerra. And I've made it very clear that I'm my own person. I won't take orders from the White House. I won't take orders from Sacramento. I'm not part of that machine there. I'm an outsider, never run for office before, and I'm going to be representing the people. That's what this is all about. Now, look, you don't have to change your politics. You don't have to change your opinion of President Trump. You don't have to change your party. You just have to vote for change in this one election. Just try it. And, Steve, like you said, President Trump is obviously not on the ballot. But the reality is when it comes to California, Democrats have been able to dominate for years. So if you can talk about the challenge in overcoming that and if you believe you've been successful this election doing so. Well, it is a challenge. I mean, it's a very powerful machine that they've built after all these years of running everything. They've got the guaranteed money from the government unions, the top 10 government unions in California, a recent survey found, have an income of $1 billion a year. And a lot of that goes into political campaigning. So in this campaign, we've been outspent by Javier Becerra 20 to 1. That is a huge financial advantage, even though We've run a great campaign. We've raised more money than any Republican in a very long time, in at least 20 years. But we know we're heavily outgunned when it comes to spending money on advertising. That's why we've been creative. We've been such a high-energy campaign. We've been to every one of our 58 counties. We've done events up and down the state, hundreds and hundreds of town halls. These great rallies we've been holding in the last week or so in San Diego, Orange County, L.A., Fresno, Sacramento. Again, last night, massive rally in Huntington Beach, thousands of people coming out. So we're doing it the old fashioned scrappy way. It's a people powered movement. And we'll see if we can beat the machine. I'm very much hoping we do because California desperately needs change. And Steve, you've also pledged to end homelessness within your first year. If you can talk about how that would be accomplished and how you would measure success within those first 12 months. So I just want to be clear about the terms I'm using, ending mass homelessness. Look, of course, there will be people who are homeless. You see that in every city, in every country, frankly. But what you don't see is the scale of it that we have here in California, these massive homeless encampments and all the squalor and drugs and danger that goes with them. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've spent a lot of time out on Skid Row, MacArthur Park, Fentanyl Alley. Can you believe we have somewhere called Fentanyl Alley in L.A.? In the Bay Area, Oakland, everywhere you go, it's not just Skid Row, it's Fresno, it's San Diego, it's Chico up in Butte County. And the reason is we've got the wrong approach. We've got this idea that you've got to keep, you've got taxpayer funded nonprofits handing out drugs to homeless people. You've got these ridiculous waste of money on what they call permanent supportive housing, where you've got million dollar apartments and you put someone in who's addicted to fentanyl and just leave them alone and hope they get their life back on track. That doesn't work. My plan is very simple. Number one, enforce the law. It's illegal to live and camp on the streets. The homeless encampments are illegal. So let's enforce the law, get people off the streets. Number two, we have to get them off drugs. Stop funding addiction. Number three, and the most important one. We're going to get people into safe, clean spaces away from the city center, where they're away from the drugs and the crime and the chaos, where we can give them the treatment that they need, whether that's mental health treatment, addiction recovery treatment, maybe it's job training, whatever they need, we can do in a calm, clean, safe place. I'm also part of my... Day one plan is that I will announce the first 20 locations. We actually did announce already the first one. We showed a prototype. It's down near San Diego on federal land that is unused military facilities, and we're gonna make that happen. We're gonna get them built by the end of June. This is not lavish apartments. This is just a basic shelter. But the point is they're away from where the chaos is so we can help people get their lives back on track. And Steve, is there anything that you want to add that I haven't asked you yet? Well, no, I've enjoyed the conversation. I just want to say in the few hours that are left, anyone who wants change in California or even a bit of balance, you know, it's 16 years now, one party rule is not healthy. It's time for something different. So let's try it. After this election, whatever happens in this election, Democrats will control the state legislature. You'll have Democrats running all the big cities and the big counties. Just having a Republican in there to push back against the costs and some of the extreme policies in Sacramento, I think is a useful and valuable thing to have a bit of balance. It's time for change, but only if you vote for it. And so there's still time to go and do that. Don't assume that your vote doesn't count. It absolutely does. We can make this happen. Steve Hilton, thank you so much for taking the time to hop on our show on Election Day to speak about your vision for California and the policies as well. We really appreciate it. Of course. Great to be with you. Thank you. So you just heard that interview live with Steve Hilton, who is running to become California's next governor. His opponent is Javier Becerra. And again, he's going to be having events in Sacramento today. So we're going to step away for a quick commercial break now.