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Between sky-high taxes, radical left-wing policies, and staggering levels of fraud, California has turned into such a nightmare that droves of people are leaving every year.
But one man believes he can save the Golden State from its downward trajectory: Steve Hilton.
The British-born conservative commentator is the former senior adviser to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, an ex-Fox News host of "The Next Revolution," a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and a Republican candidate for California governor in 2026. Recently endorsed by President Trump, Hilton is leading several polls against a crowded field, including Democrats and fellow Republican Chad Bianco.
On a recent episode of “Rufo and Lomez,” he joined BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo to expose the depth of California’s depravity and share his plan for a statewide overhaul.
“California today is what you get when the Democrats get everything they want,” says Hilton.
The results of 16 years of unchallenged Democrat rule speak for themselves:
“We have now today in California the highest poverty rate in the country (tied with Louisiana), the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states, the highest cost of living. Everything is the most expensive here: gas, electric, groceries, housing costs — everything,” he lists.
“U.S. News and World Report ranked California 50th out of 50 states for opportunity; WalletHub ranked us as 50th out of 50 for affordability. Chief Executive Magazine [ranked] California 50th out of 50 states for business climate,” Hilton continues, noting that this is “not the end of the list.”
After years of paying “the highest taxes for the worst results,” a “real revolution” is beginning to catch fire, he says. Even though the thought of California — one of the deepest blue states on the map — being run by a Republican governor feels like a pipe dream to many, Hilton believes the state government’s failures are so catastrophic at this point that a red victory is now feasible.
“I really think that this year we could get a major upset and you'll see a Republican governor elected in November,” he says.
Rufo is thrilled at the prospect of a Republican governor in California for many reasons but especially when it comes to the shocking amount of fraud that’s been exposed under current Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Depending on how you calculate the numbers [and] which programs you include, at the very low end, we had something like $180 billion lost to fraud under Newsom. At the very high end, I think you had something like $400 billion lost under Newsom,” he says, referencing his recent City Journal reporting.
“The scale of these numbers is almost difficult to comprehend. Can you walk us through what you found and what you think the true extent of the fraud is now?” he asks.
Hilton, who launched the investigative initiative CAL DOGE (intentionally modeled after Elon Musk’s federal department), says that what his team has uncovered using just public records, audits, and whistleblower tips is already shocking.
He gives two examples.
“When cannabis was legalized in California through Proposition 64, they said the taxes will go towards substance abuse prevention. Well, we tracked the money down — $370 million of that parceled out in tiny grants to 500+ nonprofits,” says Hilton.
“And when you look at what they do by checking their websites and their annual reports, what do they do? Democrat political activity — registering voters, organizing in the community, all that kind of stuff.”
Hilton’s second example comes from California’s “climate fund.”
Since 2015, the state has allocated $100 million per year to installing solar panels on low-income apartment buildings. However, CAL DOGE found that the program's own official reports show that only $72 million was actually spent on installing solar panels.
“$928 million, again, goes to all these Democrat political organizations,” says Hilton.
“They take money from the taxpayer and say it's going for some nice purpose that you think is going to be good, and then it all gets parceled up going to this network of nonprofits that then do things that help the Democrat political machine ... and the scale of it is massive,” he adds, noting that CAL DOGE’s range for state fraud is between “$312 billion” and “$425 billion over five years.”
“How can we break that system?” Rufo asks.
To hear Hilton’s answer, watch the video above.
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