Steve Hilton Courts Anti-Trump Voters as Poll Shows Him Trailing Xavier Becerra 61%-36%
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 22
Steve Hilton Courts Anti-Trump Voters as Poll Shows Him Trailing Xavier Becerra 61%-36%
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 22
Summary
Steve Hilton used his California general-election launch to ask anti-Trump voters to back him anyway, arguing the race is about state affordability and governance rather than national politics.
A full-page newspaper ad bluntly asked, “Can you be anti-Trump and still vote for me?” and paired climate and cost-of-living concerns with promises to cut gas, electricity, housing costs and taxes.
Boyle Heights served as the backdrop for Hilton’s attack on Democratic rule, with the candidate citing the lingering fallout from last month’s warehouse fire as a symbol of state and local failure.
California’s political math remains daunting: Hilton finished second in the June primary, but a July PPIC poll put Democrat Xavier Becerra ahead 61% to 36%, and no Republican has won statewide since 2006.
Trump’s endorsement gives Hilton federal alignment but also a liability in heavily Democratic California, where he says he is not expecting the president to campaign for him.