California's Democratic Rule Faces Challenge in Gubernatorial Race

3 min read

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton faces long odds in his race against former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.).

Becerra’s lead in the RealClearPolitics average is over 20 points, and Polymarket gives Hilton only a 5% chance of winning. Pulling off an upset win would require that a good chunk of the 26% of voters up for grabs, according to a poll Hilton’s team took at the beginning of the campaign, wake up ASAP and realize that one-party rule has made California a failed state.

A State in Crisis

Wearing a T-shirt with that very message — Wake Up California! — Hilton appeared on the All-In Podcast this week to talk about his path to victory a week before his debate with Becerra on Sept. 30. He started with the most damning fact that every Californian hesitant to vote for a Republican while struggling amid the state’s affordability crisis — not to mention its homelessness crisis, energy crisis, and crime crisis — should keep in mind as Becerra’s campaign attempts to nationalize the race and tie Hilton to Trump: Democrats have run California for 16 years.

What happens when Democrats control all eight statewide elected offices, hold a two-thirds majority in the state legislature, run every major county and city, and maintain a 6-1 Democrat-appointed majority on the state Supreme Court? Hilton put it bluntly: ‘The rules get piled up because every year they pass legislation that just adds to the burden and the bloat.’ The Sacramento legislature passed 1,118 bills last year. Hilton’s team printed them out, and the stack came to twice Hilton’s height.

A Story of Impact

While that’s a striking visual, it can be easily dismissed by voters used to voting Dem as something that doesn’t truly affect their lives. A story Hilton shared later in the podcast, however, dramatically illustrates how much damage even just one of those laws can cause ordinary Californians.

A Latino couple asked Hilton to visit the store they’ve owned in South Central L.A. for 14 years. Hilton described it as a ‘beautiful little store’ in a rough area surrounded by squalor. The couple recited the litany of complaints Hilton is used to hearing from business owners in the state: high taxes, insane bureaucracy, increasingly expensive and complicated permits, and sky-high electric bills. However, that wasn’t the reason they invited Hilton to the store. He related:

‘They took me outside. You walk along. We went for a walk. Two city blocks. Could have gone even further. Every single part of the sidewalk, street vendors. You think illegal street vendors. What are they selling? Shoes and apparel and T-shirts. Just the entire sidewalk.’

This 14-year business, a lovely little local business, everything spotless, everything clean, exactly what we would want to see, is going out of business because you got people there that are not paying tax, not paying electric, not paying rent, not complying with any licensing. And then I said to the guy, ‘When did all this happen? Uh, when did it start? Has this been here all the time you’ve been here?’ No, it’s the last six or seven years. Said, ‘Is it something to do with the pandemic?’ No. I looked into it. Eight years ago, in 2018, they passed a bill in Sacramento to legalize street vending in California across the state. Cities can’t do anything about it. Counties can’t do anything about it. You’ve got food stands there that are pouring their grease into the drain right in front of their store. You got rats. You got all of it legalized.

Source: PJ Media