Trump backs Hilton, complicates GOP path in California race
President Donald Trump endorsed Republican Steve Hilton for California governor early Monday morning. The endorsement gives Hilton a major advantage in the GOP lane and cuts into the party’s few plausible paths to the November election.
Trump announced the endorsement in a Truth Social post, calling Hilton a “fine man,” saying he can “turn it around,” and promising federal help if he wins.
“I have known and respected Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California, for many years,” Trump wrote. “Gavin Newscum and the Democrats have done an absolutely horrendous job.”
Hilton, a former Fox News host who also advised Conservative leaders in the U.K., is running in a crowded race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Under California’s primary system, the top two finishers advance to November regardless of party.
Trump endorsement reshapes GOP field
Hilton faces Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for Republican support, while multiple Democrats compete on the same primary ballot.
Trump’s backing pulls Republican attention and money more sharply toward Hilton and makes it harder to execute the party’s narrowest best-case scenario: a split Democratic field that lets two Republicans slip into the general election.
If Hilton absorbs more of the Republican vote, the odds drop that he and Bianco both clear the field and lock Democrats out of November.
Democrats’ path becomes clearer
The endorsement also gives Democrats a cleaner map.
Democratic groups have spent heavily in past races to lift weaker Republicans into general elections they looked more likely to lose. With Trump now lifting Hilton himself, that spending may no longer be necessary, and political data analyst Rob Pyers said the change could free up tens of millions of dollars.
Hilton leans into campaign message
Hilton has argued that years of Democratic control drove up housing costs, gas prices and the broader cost of living in California, making that case central to his campaign.
He has also brushed aside the political risk of Trump stepping in, pointing to Trump’s vote totals in California and his standing with Republican voters in the state.
The endorsement lands just days before California Republican delegates meet in San Diego to decide whether to back a candidate — a calculation Trump may have just changed.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
