MAGA allies had long been laying the groundwork for Trump’s endorsement of Steve Hilton in California’s gubernatorial race.
04/06/2026
By Blake Jones, Dasha Burns, Jeremy B. White, Lindsey Holden,
Dustin Gardiner and Melanie Mason
MAGA allies had long been laying the groundwork for Trump’s endorsement of former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who launched his campaign with the support of actor Jon Voight, now Trump’s Hollywood ambassador, Charlie Kirk, the late Turning Point USA founder, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Department of Government Efficiency co-leader.
Hilton appeared on former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s One America News show in March, while MAGA influencer and conservative podcaster Laura Loomer has for months been railing against Hilton’s GOP Rival, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — and, she said, communicating her distaste of the Southern California lawman with members of Trump’s orbit.
Then, following a Saturday night debate where Hilton accused Bianco of being lax on immigration, Fox News hosts who had been pushing for Hilton accelerated their calls to Trump to back Hilton, according to a person familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to describe them.
The White House had come around to the conclusion that it was unlikely two Republicans would get the top spots in a California election, the person said, or that a Republican could ultimately land in the governor’s mansion — but that Trump’s seal of approval would at least ensure one of them made the runoff, driving turnout for a proposed voter ID initiative in the state and improving its odds of passage.
Meanwhile, for months, Loomer had assailed Bianco for kneeling with Black Lives Matter protesters, expressing support for providing immigrants with a pathway to citizenship and refusing to violate California’s immigration sanctuary law that limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal authorities.
Loomer shared some of the posts with members of the White House political team, she told POLITICO, and was informed the team would look into the matter.
“I think that the president should get involved,” she said on Friday. And after he did — wading into the governor’s race in a heavily Democratic state where Republicans have only the slimmest of odds of winning — she took some credit.
“Given the fact that nobody was talking about Bianco being a RINO till I exposed him and posted videos exposing him, I’d say I helped bring more national attention to the race,” Loomer said Monday.
Neither the White House nor a representative for Bianco returned requests for comment.
Hilton and Trump have known each other for years, as the president noted in his Truth Social endorsement early Monday morning. But Hilton, a former policy adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, just last week seemed to downplay the idea of the president getting involved, saying he didn’t think Trump was focused on the race and that he hadn’t talked with him about it.
The timing of the endorsement came as a surprise even to many in Hilton’s orbit. One adviser, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, said he didn’t learn about it until 4:30 a.m. on Monday because the campaign had no prior briefing.
To close observers of the race in California, it was startling because of the math at play.
Some Republicans had hoped both Bianco and Hilton would advance through the state’s jungle primary and lock Democrats out — an unlikely but possible scenario that would rely on the two Republicans evenly dividing GOP support as a larger cast of Democrats dilute their party’s vote.
Now, those hopes have been dashed as Hilton is poised to consolidate the GOP base.
“I don’t know if they weren’t aware or don’t care” about the chances of a lockout, California Republican consultant Matt Rexroad, who used to work for Bianco, said of the White House’s calculations. “In my mind, it clearly diminishes the chance of two Republicans making the top two.”
And Rexroad was not the only one still processing the decision Monday.
“I don’t know what to make of it. I thought we were heading to two Republicans in the final two,” said John Cox, a Republican who made the 2018 runoff against Gov. Gavin Newsom largely on the strength of Trump’s endorsement.
He said, “Maybe the president thought Californians were finally going to wake up and do something about their dysfunctional government.”
California GOP delegates will convene in San Diego this weekend to vote on a primary endorsement. The party has personal ties to Trump, and its chair, Corrin Rankin, held roles on both of his successful presidential campaigns. But officials remained “aggressively neutral” and did not play a role in elevating Hilton or advising the White House on how to approach the top-two lockout chances, said Matt Shupe, a top consultant for the state party.
Bianco had deep roots with the party’s rank and file, and was viewed by some as the favorite to win the party’s endorsement if anyone was going to clear the margin needed to do so. But Trump’s intervention upended that math.
“I’ve been unsure if the party was even going to render an endorsement and honestly I’m still unsure,” said Kira Davis, a conservative podcaster and writer based in Orange County who supports Hilton. “But the Trump endorsement is very influential among the base, especially in a turnout election. If you can get your base out, you’ve got a good chance for success.”
Democrats who have spent the last two years dreading Trump’s California interventions were experiencing whiplash. Suddenly, the Republican president may have helped them avert a catastrophe.
“It’s weird to feel thankful for a Trump action,” said a head of a politically influential Democratic-aligned group at the Capitol who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Still, Hilton’s boosters were celebrating the support on Monday — arguing that Trump’s seal of approval would not only help him, but Republicans up and down the ballot.
“This is bringing limelight to the California races,” said Mike Netter, a Hilton ally running for the state Legislature who co-led the 2021 effort to recall Newsom. “It will galvanize people and get them out to vote. We need inspiration, and that’s what the Hilton campaign put together.”
And others — including Hilton — had argued a top-two lockout was nothing more than a pipe dream regardless of whether Trump endorsed or not.
Engineering such a scenario “would be equivalent to throwing a Hail Mary on the one yard line and you’ve got 99 yards to go,” said Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa, himself a former football player at Fresno State.
Worse yet for Republicans, there was a roughly 3.6 percent chance of Democrats locking them out of the run-off, according to a simulator designed by political data expert Paul Mitchell.
“The professional political class in California has been absolutely misreading the data for months when they said, ‘Oh, the top two could be Republicans.’ Absolute nonsense,” said Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio. “The greater risk is that Republicans could have gotten shut out entirely under this broken, dysfunctional top-two system that we should get rid of.”
Trump is deeply unpopular in California, and his endorsement could be a major liability for Hilton in a general election. California Democrats have pummeled Republicans up and down the ballot here for years by yoking them to Trump — including when they easily passed a House gerrymander last fall by casting it as a tool to check the president.
But Hilton celebrated his support, writing on X that he was “deeply honored.”
The Hilton adviser downplayed concern that Trump’s support could harm Hilton, adding, “You don’t think they’re going to use Trump against us in the general to start with?”
Still, Hilton has trained the focus of his campaign on local and state issues, seeking to avoid nationalizing it. His first scheduled press conference after the endorsement is slated not to focus on Trump, but on affordability issues.
Meanwhile, for months, Loomer had assailed Bianco for kneeling with Black Lives Matter protesters, expressing support for providing immigrants with a pathway to citizenship and refusing to violate California’s immigration sanctuary law that limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal authorities.
Loomer shared some of the posts with members of the White House political team, she told POLITICO, and was informed the team would look into the matter.
“I think that the president should get involved,” she said on Friday. And after he did — wading into the governor’s race in a heavily Democratic state where Republicans have only the slimmest of odds of winning — she took some credit.
“Given the fact that nobody was talking about Bianco being a RINO till I exposed him and posted videos exposing him, I’d say I helped bring more national attention to the race,” Loomer said Monday.
Neither the White House nor a representative for Bianco returned requests for comment.
Hilton and Trump have known each other for years, as the president noted in his Truth Social endorsement early Monday morning. But Hilton, a former policy adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, just last week seemed to downplay the idea of the president getting involved, saying he didn’t think Trump was focused on the race and that he hadn’t talked with him about it.
The timing of the endorsement came as a surprise even to many in Hilton’s orbit. One adviser, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, said he didn’t learn about it until 4:30 a.m. on Monday because the campaign had no prior briefing.
To close observers of the race in California, it was startling because of the math at play.
Some Republicans had hoped both Bianco and Hilton would advance through the state’s jungle primary and lock Democrats out — an unlikely but possible scenario that would rely on the two Republicans evenly dividing GOP support as a larger cast of Democrats dilute their party’s vote.
Now, those hopes have been dashed as Hilton is poised to consolidate the GOP base.
“I don’t know if they weren’t aware or don’t care” about the chances of a lockout, California Republican consultant Matt Rexroad, who used to work for Bianco, said of the White House’s calculations. “In my mind, it clearly diminishes the chance of two Republicans making the top two.”
And Rexroad was not the only one still processing the decision Monday.
“I don’t know what to make of it. I thought we were heading to two Republicans in the final two,” said John Cox, a Republican who made the 2018 runoff against Gov. Gavin Newsom largely on the strength of Trump’s endorsement.
He said, “Maybe the president thought Californians were finally going to wake up and do something about their dysfunctional government.”
California GOP delegates will convene in San Diego this weekend to vote on a primary endorsement. The party has personal ties to Trump, and its chair, Corrin Rankin, held roles on both of his successful presidential campaigns. But officials remained “aggressively neutral” and did not play a role in elevating Hilton or advising the White House on how to approach the top-two lockout chances, said Matt Shupe, a top consultant for the state party.
Bianco had deep roots with the party’s rank and file, and was viewed by some as the favorite to win the party’s endorsement if anyone was going to clear the margin needed to do so. But Trump’s intervention upended that math.
“I’ve been unsure if the party was even going to render an endorsement and honestly I’m still unsure,” said Kira Davis, a conservative podcaster and writer based in Orange County who supports Hilton. “But the Trump endorsement is very influential among the base, especially in a turnout election. If you can get your base out, you’ve got a good chance for success.”
Democrats who have spent the last two years dreading Trump’s California interventions were experiencing whiplash. Suddenly, the Republican president may have helped them avert a catastrophe.
“It’s weird to feel thankful for a Trump action,” said a head of a politically influential Democratic-aligned group at the Capitol who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Still, Hilton’s boosters were celebrating the support on Monday — arguing that Trump’s seal of approval would not only help him, but Republicans up and down the ballot.
“This is bringing limelight to the California races,” said Mike Netter, a Hilton ally running for the state Legislature who co-led the 2021 effort to recall Newsom. “It will galvanize people and get them out to vote. We need inspiration, and that’s what the Hilton campaign put together.”
And others — including Hilton — had argued a top-two lockout was nothing more than a pipe dream regardless of whether Trump endorsed or not.
Engineering such a scenario “would be equivalent to throwing a Hail Mary on the one yard line and you’ve got 99 yards to go,” said Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa, himself a former football player at Fresno State.
Worse yet for Republicans, there was a roughly 3.6 percent chance of Democrats locking them out of the run-off, according to a simulator designed by political data expert Paul Mitchell.
“The professional political class in California has been absolutely misreading the data for months when they said, ‘Oh, the top two could be Republicans.’ Absolute nonsense,” said Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio. “The greater risk is that Republicans could have gotten shut out entirely under this broken, dysfunctional top-two system that we should get rid of.”
Trump is deeply unpopular in California, and his endorsement could be a major liability for Hilton in a general election. California Democrats have pummeled Republicans up and down the ballot here for years by yoking them to Trump — including when they easily passed a House gerrymander last fall by casting it as a tool to check the president.
But Hilton celebrated his support, writing on X that he was “deeply honored.”
The Hilton adviser downplayed concern that Trump’s support could harm Hilton, adding, “You don’t think they’re going to use Trump against us in the general to start with?”
Still, Hilton has trained the focus of his campaign on local and state issues, seeking to avoid nationalizing it. His first scheduled press conference after the endorsement is slated not to focus on Trump, but on affordability issues.
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