Steve Hilton defends his California governor's race ad

Candidate Steve Hilton's ad for the California governor's race, which featured two young women in front of a pride flag, drew some criticism from some of his Republican colleagues.

After the ad went viral on social media, Republican candidate for state school superintendent Sonja Shaw called it creepy, weird garbage. 

"As a mother and someone who has fought to protect the innocence of children, this crosses the line," she said. 

Hilton responded to the backlash by defending the ad. 

"Obviously, we need to do things differently in California," he said. "The way we do campaigns, we have to do that differently as well."

With a month before the November election, polls show Hilton trailing his opponent Xavier Becerra by double digits. 

"I think the entire point is that we all know, those of us in the minority here as registered Republicans in California," said Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party. "It's akin to: what do you have to lose? Just try it."

The candidates held only one debate after the primary, which was hosted on CNN last week. Hilton wanted more but Becerra's campaign claimed his schedule was too packed. 

"People really need to hear what people are saying," said Mike Bonin, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA. "To be honest, that's mostly on Becerra because he's the one who isn't debating."

The midterm election is officially underway, and mail-in ballots have already been delivered.