Republican Steve Hilton is now leading in the polls to succeed Gavin Newsom as governor in deep-blue California — and many are now wondering what the former Fox News host might do if elected.
Hilton, who’s won the endorsement of President Trump, said on day one he’ll take a wrecking ball to Sacramento.
“What I’m going to start doing on day one is putting this bloated government bureaucracy into the wood chipper,” Hilton told The Post.
In an exclusive interview, Hilton laid out plans for how he would spend his first hours, days and weeks in office by slashing the bureaucracy he blames for driving up the cost of housing, gas, electricity and groceries across the state.
Hilton said he would immediately send state lawmakers a budget built around his “Calaffordable” agenda: $3 gas, cutting electric bills in half, ending state income taxes on the first $100,000 of income, eliminating free health care for undocumented immigrants and making homes easier to buy.
Hilton would also call a special session of the Legislature aimed at reducing costs and “kickstarting” California’s economy with a focus on tax relief, deregulation, homelessness enforcement, water and energy reforms, tax credits for Hollywood production, and a tougher approach to public safety.
“The quickest and most immediate way we can help people is to cut their taxes and to stop taking so much money,” Hilton said.
Hilton’s rise comes as Democrats have scrambled to avoid an embarrassing outcome in next week’s primary election after the implosion of ex-congressman Eric Swalwell.
Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer appear to bethe top contenders.
Hilton’s day-one tax package would include ending state income taxes on the first $100,000 earned by Californians, killing the $800 annual business fee that companies must pay “just for existing,” implementing no state tax on tips, and pushing lawmakers to immediately suspend the gas tax while his administration pursues longer-term changes to lower fuel prices.
He said he would also immediately seek to end income taxes and property taxes for veterans.
The most aggressive early fight, however, would likely come over homelessness.
Hilton said repealing California’s Housing First mandate, banning public camping, enforcing drug and property crime laws under Proposition 36, and shifting money away from permanent supportive housing toward lower-cost congregate shelters could be done immediately.
“It’s exactly what Spencer Pratt has been talking about for LA,” Hilton said. “It’s literally his plan.”
Hilton said he would give local governments roughly three months to clear encampments and enforce anti-camping laws before sending in state law enforcement.
“If you don’t clean up your homeless encampments, I will do it using state law enforcement resources,” Hilton said.
On housing, Hilton said his first 100 days would include an immediate push to gut permitting and environmental regulations he argues have strangled construction. His housing policy paper has blamed CEQA lawsuits for blocking housing plans that would have allowed more than 1 million new homes between 2010 and 2021.
Hilton’s special session would also include a major Hollywood tax-credit package, which he said could be done in the first 100 days.
The film tax credit plan could reach 60% for some productions when combined with a potential federal credit, but it would never go below 40%. Hilton said he would not cap the overall credit at $750 million, as California currently does.
As governor, Hilton said he would also create a “Governor’s Expediter” to help productions cut through local bureaucracy. The plan would also revamp the California Film Commission and require many credit applications to be decided within 30 days.
The goal, Hilton said, is to bring TV and movie production back to California after years of runaway production and job losses.
On oil and gas, Hilton said he would appoint leaders to CalGEM — the California Geologic Energy Management Division — who would immediately begin issuing permits for expanded oil and gas production. He would appoint members to the State Water Resources Control Board on day one to eliminate “biological assessments” and send water to the ocean instead of farms.
“Oil and gas and water, they can be pretty immediate,” Hilton said.
Hilton’s broader energy agenda calls for increasing in-state oil production and reducing reliance on imports. He said he would also immediately increase electricity capacity by running California’s natural gas-fired power plants at maximum capacity to help bring down electric bills.
On public safety, Hilton said Proposition 36 enforcement would begin in the first year, with repeat drug and theft offenders sent to prison and incarceration policy refocused on literacy, job training, addiction treatment, and mental health services.
He said increasing prison capacity would take longer and likely be a first-term project.
“Can’t do that overnight,” Hilton said. “I mean, some of it, you know, the Prop. 36 stuff is year one, but the increase in prison capacity just takes time.”
Hilton also said he would appoint an anti-trafficking coordinator in the first 100 days to begin implementing a plan to end child sex trafficking in California.
Hilton said he would appoint new members to the State Board of Education in the first 100 days, focused on improving math and literacy in public schools.
Some of Hilton’s most sweeping proposals would take longer.
He said reducing the executive branch workforce by 50,000 full-time state employees and rolling back retiree health care costs would be a first-year project. His push to review employment laws and regulations — including AB 5, the controversial worker-classification law blamed by critics for disrupting independent contracting — would not happen overnight.
“I would put that as a year-long thing, because that’s just very complicated,” Hilton said.
Hilton has called for a California Fire Force using AI-enabled drones, autonomous firefighting equipment, and remote sensing technology to detect and extinguish fires early.
He called the project “very important” but cautioned it would take a year to begin building out.
One obvious obstacle to Hilton’s plans is California’s heavy Democratic registration, which accounts for nearly 45% of voters. Meanwhile, Republicans account for about 25% of voters, and independents make up 22%.
Polling suggests Hilton has a strong chance of finishing in the top two to appear in the November runoff, but his odds could go down markedly in a head-to-head against leading Democrats like Becerra or Steyer, who has already smashed spending records by dropping more than $190 million of his own money on the race.
And then there’s the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature, which would have to approve many of Hilton’s biggest changes.
Hilton could move policy through executive appointments and emergency powers, as well as budget proposals and special sessions, but major changes to taxes, CEQA, homelessness law, prison capacity, and energy mandates would likely face brutal fights in Sacramento.
Hilton said he is preparing for that by building a policy and personnel operation before taking office.
“It’s going to be a very long and busy first day, but I’m going to be better prepared from a policy and personnel perspective than any incoming governor in our history,” Hilton said. “That’s my goal.”