Republican Steve Hilton leads CA governor polls and Democrats don’t get why | Opinion
California’s gubernatorial race is exposing an elitist culture within the Democratic Party that is out of touch with who voters are and what they care about.
We saw this elitist culture at work when California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks wrote in a letter on Tuesday advising candidates who are not polling strongly to drop out of the race. Hicks failed to mention that most of the people he wants to drop out are Latino, Black and Asian.
But the candidates noticed. “Isn’t it interesting that the candidates they’re asking to get out of the race are the candidates of color?” said Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general who is Latino and who ignored Hicks and filed to run on Wednesday, despite his low poll numbers. Tony Thurmond, the state schools superintendent, who is Black, also ignored Hicks and filed to run. So did Betty Yee, the former state Controller, who is Asian.
Becerra, Thurmond and Yee have a point.
Latinos, Blacks and Asians make up roughly 40% of likely voters in California, and in recent elections Democrats have seen an erosion of support among voters of color nationally and in California. Instead of being worried about too many Democrats in the race for governor, they should be worried about how voters feel about affordability in California. They should be worried about turning off young voters, as they surely did when they chose party stalwarts over a new generation of candidates at the state party convention last month.
And they should be worried that Republican Steve Hilton is talking about the issues that voters care about better than Democrats are.
Hilton is leading in many polls and not just because there are too many Democrats in the race. Hilton actually calls out California’s real problems and names the culprits. Whether you agree with him or not, Hilton is blunt about the state’s housing crisis, skyrocketing costs, and rampant homelessness. And he’s not afraid to say it’s all thanks to Newsom’s disastrous leadership.
Democrats don’t seem to have learned anything from when Kamala Harris ran a visionless presidential campaign in 2024, refusing to honestly critique former President Joe Biden’s record and clinging to empty slogans about “saving democracy from Trump.” Turns out, ideological scare tactics don’t get people to the polls.
In California, ten counties that voted for Biden in 2020 flipped toward President Donald Trump in 2024.
It’s time for Democrats to drop their elitist act
Do any of the Democrats in the race for governor have it in them to actually speak to what voters care about? The Democratic Party isn’t showing leadership. At the recent California Democratic Party Convention, they couldn’t even come together to endorse a candidate.
This gives Republicans like Hilton a chance to win the highest seat in California.
Democrats are obsessed with optics — their whole strategy is about image, not substance. There is no plan, just empty branding.
Enough with this internal popularity contest. Give Californians the results they want; get serious about the economic hardships hard-working people face; ensure people have a place to lay their head, no matter their social class; and keep this state safe for everyone who calls it home.
Elitism is killing the party’s ability to lead. This race will prove whether Democrats have the guts to ditch their arrogance and finally work for the people.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM.