Steve Hilton says California is ready for change as Election Day approaches

During a brief stop at one of the most iconic San Francisco viewpoints, the Marin Headlands, gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton was glad to meet some of his supporters and introduce himself to some visiting the Golden State.

"See, when I'm governor, lots more people will be coming here," he said. "Including all the people who moved out, because it'll be easier to live here. Lower taxes, cheaper gas — that's what's going to be happening. California will be the place to be."

Hilton is looking to be the first Republican elected to statewide office since 2006.

"Enough is enough," he said. "Sixteen years of doing it one way, I think it's time to try something different."

He says that as governor, he would bring practical solutions to the state's problems, from lowering energy bills to making California more business-friendly.

"I think we've been putting out very simple, positive, practical plans that are solutions to our problems – $3 gas, your first $150,000 tax-free, capping vehicle registration at $73 for your car or your truck, eliminating mass homelessness by the end of my first year, and we have plans to deliver all of that," Hilton said. 

Hilton said that those are not ideological or divisive, but rather partisan ideas.

"They're just practical solutions that everybody can get behind," he said. "I'm very much looking forward to working with anyone who wants to work with me. I'm not an ideologue, I'm not going to take orders from the White House, I'm not going to take orders from Sacramento, I'm an outsider who wants to shake up the system that is obviously not working."

With two weeks until the election, Hilton is in the home stretch of an uphill battle. His challenger, Democrat Xavier Becerra, has a 25.6-point advantage among likely voters, per a recent poll from Activote.

"That's a completely made-up poll. That's an online survey of 400 people where you have to download the app, so that you shouldn't take seriously at all," Hilton said. "More seriously, you've got the establishment polls in California, like PPIC and the Institute of Government at Berkeley, and, you're right, they show the same kind of gap that we've had for 20 years in California. But, they have a particular model of the electorate of who is going to show up and vote that, frankly, I don't think captures the energy of this moment."

Other polls show similar outlooks, with expected support for each candidate along party lines.

"If you're going to win statewide in California as a Republican, you've got to do two big things: lock down your base, number one, and then persuade enough Independents and yes even some Democrats, to come to your side," said Gary Dietrich, senior political analyst for CBS News Sacramento. "Is he able to pull more voters above that Republican base number?"

That answer will come on Election Day, which will produce revealing results, says Dietrich.

"Hilton is right when he says, voters agree with him on many key issues. It's just that they aren't ready to put the stamp of approval on a Republican candidate," Dietrich said. "I think people are going to be watching these numbers very carefully for a trend line in California. Is California beginning to trend more purple when it's been thought of as deep blue?"

Hilton is endorsed by President Trump. When asked if he believes the endorsement was beneficial or detrimental to his candidacy?

"Remember, I didn't ask for his endorsement. It was a great surprise to receive it, but yeah, I'm honored to have it. I'm a new American citizen. To be endorsed by the President of the United States, on a personal level, I think everyone would treat that as something that they would be proud to have, whoever the president is, as an immigrant," Hilton said. "But I think the question about President Trump, It's interesting. I only really ever get asked it by people in the media. It's never once come up in any of the hundreds of town halls that we've done up and down the state."

Caroline Heldman, a professor of politics at Occidental College, believes the gap between Hilton and Becerra is too big to close.

"Steve Hilton, in a different time, may have been a much better candidate. But in the era of Trump, Californians are just absolutely not going to elect a Republican in the highest seat," she said. "His only path to winning was with independents, but the split with independents in California also favors Becerra about 2-1."

Regarding his opponent, Becerra, Hilton said, "He's taking this election for granted. He's not putting out any solutions to anything. He's going to be four more years of the same," Hilton said. "I want everyone to really understand that we can change things. We don't have to put up with what we've got. We can aim for something better."

The last Republican to be elected governor in California was Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 2006. He won re-election by a margin of about 1.5 million votes.