A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Entrepreneur and former Fox News host Steve Hilton is considering a run for governor of California in 2026 as a Republican. The last time a Republican won a gubernatorial election in the Golden State was 2006, which kicked off Arnold Schwarzenegger's second term in office. It's been all Democrats since. Hilton's new book "Califailure: Reversing The Ruin Of America's Worst-Run State" argues that the state's Democratic majority in government, among other factors, has led to a slew of negative outcomes for its residents. He recently joined me to talk about the book, our mutual home state and its politics.
Steve, I don't know if you have announced your run for governor, but I know it's no secret that you're at least considering it. So is this book an outline of what your platform would be?
STEVE HILTON: Well, I'm certainly considering it very strongly. I love California. People will hear from my accent. I'm originally from the U.K. My parents are actually Hungarian, but we moved here in 2012. I love this state. I think there's nowhere better than California, but I think everyone can see things have gone off track. And I am strongly considering running for governor, and the decision really will be based on making sure that it's possible to do that in a serious way. Part of that is to have a serious policy platform, and some of that is reflected in this new book, "Califailure." But there's much more to it than that. You've got to count its financial support, sense that there's an opportunity to actually win because that's the only basis on which I would do it.
MARTÍNEZ: So you write that Califailure is what happens when Democrats get everything they want. So, Steve, what would be some of those things?
HILTON: Well, it's the things that actually have been done to California by the government that we've been living under. I think the best place to start, A, is just to look at the data. Look at the numbers. And if we said there's a state - one state in America that has the highest housing cost, by far, the highest taxes, on and on, how has that happened? And my answer, looking at that is something I think a lot of people across the political spectrum would agree with, which is one-party rule is not healthy. It breeds a sense of extremism where the only pressure is coming from one direction. That takes you in directions that are far outside the mainstream.
MARTÍNEZ: California has the highest housing costs in the contiguous U.S., second only to Hawaii nationwide. And we should clarify that California has the highest individual income tax rate. The state of New York has the highest overall tax burden.
One of the things though, Steve, that I always wonder about is when people look at California from the outside and they say, you know, horribly run state. It's one of the worst-run states in the country. Then I think about California's gross domestic product being at 3.9 trillion, which is 14% of the national GDPM. So how could a state that poorly run - is the accusation - how could it be that productive economically and even agriculturally? It's the No. 1...
HILTON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...Agricultural state in the entire country.
HILTON: And so you're right. People may say, well, we can't be doing things that badly then. But if you look at the components of that, a lot of it is driven by a small number of companies, particularly in the Bay Area, that make huge amounts of money, but actually don't employ very many people. And so that explains why you can have two seemingly contradictory things.
MARTÍNEZ: If you were to run, Steve - I'm not saying you are, but if you were to run - would you have a particular candidate that you would kind of salivate that, Steve, to say, let me get at you? I want to go after you one-on-one?
HILTON: Well, look, I think the fundamental point is that we need some political balance in California. But when you look at the potential candidates, I do think that Kamala Harris, the former vice president who is said to be strongly considering running, she tells us that she'll make a decision by the end of the summer. By the way, I'll make my decision much sooner than that. Kamala Harris, I think, would be a great opponent to face because, first of all, she'd bring a lot of attention to the race and the issues that California faces. And I think that's important that we can have a really serious policy discussion about how we turn things around and make California what it should be, which is the best of America.
MARTÍNEZ: And the thing is, Steve, that I find interesting that you say Kamala Harris because the thought in California is - and you live here - is that this is her job to lose.
HILTON: I think the problem with Kamala Harris, if I may say, is that all of this conversation, and including the things that have been put out there by her team in briefings, are all about her. Would she be the - excited to be the first Black woman governor of a state? It's not about her. It's not about me. It's not about the candidates. It's about California. We need to go in a completely different direction.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Steve Hilton. His book is "Califailure: Reversing The Ruin Of America's Worst-Run State." Steve, thanks.
HILTON: Thank you very much.
(SOUNDBITE OF RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS SONG, "CALIFORNICATION") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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