The Republicans: Tough Talk vs. Real Records

With the June 2nd primary just weeks away, two Republican candidates are defying expectations in one of the most heavily Democratic states in America. Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco are both polling near the top of a crowded field — not because California has suddenly turned red, but because a deeply divided Democratic field has handed them an opening.

Who are these men? What do they actually stand for? And does their tough talk hold up against their real records?

Here is what the research shows.

Steve Hilton: The Man Behind “Califordable”

Steve Hilton has built his campaign around a single powerful word: “Califordable.”

His pitch is simple and undeniably compelling: three-dollar gas, electric bills cut in half, your first $100,000 of income tax-free, and a home you can actually afford to buy. In a state where the average gas price is over $6 a gallon and the median home price is over $800,000, that message lands hard.

But let us look more carefully at the man behind the slogan — and whether his promises hold up to scrutiny.

Who is Steve Hilton, really?

Hilton was born in London, England on August 25, 1969. His parents were Hungarian refugees who fled communism during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, initially claiming asylum in Britain before building a new life there. It is a genuinely compelling origin story — and one Hilton references often on the campaign trail.

He served as director of strategy for British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2012, then moved to California where he co-founded a political crowdfunding platform in Silicon Valley before hosting a weekly show on Fox News from 2017 to 2023. He became a U.S. citizen in 2021.

That last detail is worth noting: Hilton became an American citizen just five years ago. He is now asking to lead the most populous state in the country.

His policy platform in detail:

Hilton wants to lower gas prices by suspending environmental regulations, cut income taxes for middle-class earners and wealthier Californians, and open natural spaces for housing — particularly suburban single-family homes.

His headline tax proposal is making the first $100,000 of income tax-free for workers, paired with a 7.5% flat tax above that threshold — a pitch he frames explicitly as “pro-worker.” The plan was notable enough that Katie Porter announced on a debate stage that she had adopted a version of it, saying “I’ve stolen that from Steve Hilton.”

On housing, Hilton’s agenda combines limiting local impact fees, capping developer costs, stripping regulatory constraints, and explicitly expanding development into natural and suburban spaces — an explicit rejection of the state’s prevailing density narrative. Critics warn this would sidestep environmental review entirely.

On climate, Hilton calls himself an environmentalist but argues that California’s climate regulations are “self-harming and don’t actually help the climate.” He wants to suspend numerous environmental regulations to lower gas prices and energy costs.

The critical question about Hilton:

His platform is articulate and specific. His message resonates. He leads the polls.

But governing California — with its $300 billion budget, 40 million residents, and a legislature that is overwhelmingly Democratic — requires more than a compelling message. Hilton has never held elected office anywhere in the United States. Not city council. Not the state legislature. Not Congress. Nothing.

At the California Republican Party convention, Hilton received 44% of delegate votes — second to Bianco’s 49%. Neither candidate reached the 60% threshold required for a formal party endorsement, leaving California Republicans without an official candidate heading into the primary.

Even his own party could not fully unite behind him.

The question Hilton still has not answered: How do you plan to work with a supermajority Democratic legislature to actually implement any of your proposals — and what is your plan when they refuse?

Chad Bianco: The Sheriff Who Makes His Own Rules

Chad Bianco presents himself as the straight-talking law enforcement officer who will clean up Sacramento the same way he cleaned up Riverside County.

There is just one problem with that story. The record of what actually happened in Riverside County under his leadership tells a very different tale.

Who is Chad Bianco, really?

Bianco was born in 1967 at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, grew up in a small mining town as the eldest of three boys, and moved to California in 1989. In 1993 he attended the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Academy, graduating at the top of his class, and joined the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department shortly after. He was first elected sheriff in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 with about 60% of the vote.

A three-decade career in law enforcement. A genuine working-class background. An authentic anti-establishment persona.

But then there is the record.

The Oath Keepers connection:

Following a hacking incident in September 2021 against a database belonging to the Oath Keepers militia organization, Bianco was exposed as a former member. He later stated he had paid for a $40 one-year membership in 2014 and did not renew it. He has since disavowed the group’s violent conduct — but notably declared he is “proud” to be an Oath Keeper during a 2026 gubernatorial debate.

Consider what that means. During a debate for governor of California — one of the most diverse states in the nation — Bianco declared he is proud to be a member of a militia organization that has been linked to extremist violence.

The ballot seizure — new details:

We covered the basic facts of the ballot seizure in our previous posts, but internal documents revealed since then make the story even more troubling.

Internal emails obtained by reporters show how fringe groups directly fueled Bianco’s ballot seizure investigation. The entire chain of events — from the initial complaint to the seizure of 650,000 ballots — was driven by outside activist organizations feeding claims to Bianco’s investigators, who appear to have accepted those claims without independent verification.

Bianco has portrayed the seizure as “normal law enforcement.” The California Attorney General called it a constitutional emergency. The California Supreme Court ordered it halted.

His policy platform:

Bianco wants to overturn California’s sanctuary law, boost oil and gas production, eliminate both the income tax and the gas tax, and suspend numerous state environmental regulations.

Eliminating the income tax and gas tax sounds appealing until you ask the obvious question: California’s state budget is approximately $300 billion. The income tax alone brings in approximately $140 billion per year — more than half of what the state spends annually. What services exactly does Bianco plan to eliminate to cover that gap? His campaign has not provided a detailed answer.

The George Floyd moment:

Here is something that gets overlooked in coverage of Bianco. In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Bianco knelt with protesters in Riverside — a powerful gesture of solidarity. He was hit with a thrown screwdriver during the protest. Three years later, he described those same protests as “destructive riots.”

That is a remarkable reversal. The same events that moved him to kneel in solidarity in 2020 became “destructive riots” by 2023. What changed — the events, or the political calculation?

The question Bianco still has not answered: You want to eliminate California’s income tax — the state’s primary source of revenue. What specific state services and programs will you cut to make up the difference, and which Californians will bear that burden?

The Republican Strategy: Why a Tie Might Be Their Best Outcome

Here is something fascinating about the Republican side of this race that most coverage has missed.

Political analysts have noted that for Republicans, having both Hilton AND Bianco advance to the November general election might actually be their best strategy — splitting the conservative vote in the primary while Democrats remain fragmented, then consolidating in the general.

Think about that. In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by millions, the Republican path to the governor’s office runs through Democratic dysfunction — not Republican dominance.

That is not a winning coalition. That is an opportunistic strategy that depends entirely on Democrats being unable to unite behind a single candidate.

And right now, Democrats are doing Republicans a very significant favor.

Our UnsilencedTruth Take

Both Republican candidates offer genuine critiques of California’s Democratic leadership — and on the numbers, those critiques have merit. California does have the highest costs, worst business climate rankings, and deep inequality despite decades of Democratic control. Those are facts worth grappling with.

But here is what we cannot overlook:

Hilton has never governed anything. His platform is compelling but entirely untested. And a man who became an American citizen five years ago and has never held elected office is asking Californians to hand him the fifth largest economy in the world.

Bianco’s record as sheriff — the worst crime-solving rate in the state, deadly jails under DOJ investigation, a ballot seizure that the state’s highest court called a constitutional emergency, and a proud declaration of Oath Keeper membership on a debate stage — raises serious questions about his judgment, his temperament, and his fitness for the state’s highest office.

Tough talk is easy. Governing is hard. California voters deserve to weigh both.

Coming Next: The Democrats — Too Many Promises, Too Little Unity

Six Democratic candidates. A fragmented field. A very real risk of handing the governor’s office to a Republican for the first time in decades. Next up — the Democrats.