California GOP votes to approve governor’s pick after Trump endorses Hilton
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California Republicans this weekend will vote to approve their choice for governor of California in the race to replace Gov. Democratic incumbent Gavin Newsom.
The vote, this Sunday in San Diego at the annual meeting of the California GOP, comes a week after President Donald Trump took sides among the main Republican candidates in the race, supporting conservative commentator and Fox News Channel host Steve Hilton over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Trump, whose approval rating is heavily influenced by the GOP primaries, countered in his statement that he’d let California “go to hell” and that “Steve can turn it around, before it’s too late, and, as President, I’m going to help him do that!”
Hilton’s support for the president is expected to pay dividends quickly at the GOP state convention.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks to the media during the Huntington Beach City Michael Gates press event in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California. Huntington Beach city attorney Michael Gates has announced his candidacy for California attorney general. (Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
“I think it would help unify the candidate’s base and create some buzz and enthusiasm,” California Republican Party chair Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital.
Bianco is a loyal Trump supporter with many friends and support among California Republican insiders. But Trump’s endorsement of Hilton, who was a top adviser to then-British Prime Minister David Cameron a decade and a half ago before moving to the US and becoming an American citizen in 2021, could boost him at the GOP convention, where support from 60% of delegates is needed to get the party’s approval.
But Bianco, an executive who recently gained national attention for holding votes in Riverside County, appeared defiant.
“For too long, politicians and insiders from Sacramento to Washington have tried to choose our leaders. That’s not leadership, that’s anointing, and that’s how we ended up with the failed leadership Californians live with today,” he said in a social media video. “This election is for the people, not the political class.”
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Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on May 15, 2024, in Washington, DC. This week marks national police week, where thousands of police officers from different departments across the country come to Washington DC to honor law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Trump’s endorsement may have another unintended consequence.
Candidates from both major political parties appear on the same ballot in June’s primary election in the left-leaning state, with the top two moving on to November’s general election.
Some Democrats were concerned that with nine candidates in the race, the support of Democratic voters would be so badly divided in the primary that no one would run for the general election. Hilton and Bianco were the top two officials in some public opinion polls, giving some in the GOP hope for a final showdown between the two Republicans.
The situation is likely to be much smaller now, with Hilton’s support expected to increase and Bianco’s to decrease given the president’s endorsement. Polling last week gave an indication of Hilton’s operation.
“Trump is killing any GOP hopes of an R vs R run in the California governor’s race,” Rob Pyers of the California Target Book, which describes itself as an unbiased and unbiased political almanac, last week wrote on social media.
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Trump’s endorsement of Hilton sent shock waves through the California Republican Party. (Alex Brandon/AP)
But Hilton dismissed it as a fantasy speech to shut Democrats out of the general election vote.
“That’s the situation of two republics [making the general election ballot]I’ve been saying this for months, it’s just been a dream,” Hilton said on Fox Business’ “The Bottom Line.” “The idea that the Democrat machine in California was going to give the state to two Republicans was never serious. It never happened, it never will.”
He continued, “The reality is…you’re going to have two Democrats in the top two and we’re not going to have a chance to change. So this really ensures that we have a Republican in the top two.”
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No Republican has won a statewide election in California since then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.
And with the president’s approval rating in California in the 30s, Trump’s endorsement likely won’t do much for Hilton if he wins the November election.
