This Is on California

I hadn’t been following the California gubernatorial race much since the open primary in June. The right generally agrees the state is a mess under one-party rule, and the consensus is that Steve Hilton — former British political operative and Fox News host — will lose in November.

The usual exhibit is what happened to Spencer Pratt in the same June election. He hoped to reach the runoff for mayor of Los Angeles. There were the familiar complaints about mail-in ballots and California’s loose rules on what counts and when.

I have been to Skid Row twice in my lifetime. I still find it hard to believe a whole neighborhood in this nation is allowed to stay like that.

This video from Fox News Digital reporter Ashley J. DiMella is revealing. She walks the area with Hilton. He notes the federal help clearing streets, then makes the point that the condition itself remains on California.

🚨 ON THE GROUND: Fox News Digital joined @SteveHiltonx in LA’s Skid Row, witnessing human feces, open drug use, sprawling encampments and trash-filled sidewalks. Hilton calls it a “political scandal.” https://t.co/yPREpf7Qpq

— AJD (@AshleyJDiMella) October 12, 2026

Hilton calls it a political scandal rather than a natural disaster. Billions spent, nonprofits funded for “harm reduction,” streets still covered in encampments, drugs, and refuse.

Hilton debated his Democratic opponent Xavier Becerra once, on CNN at the end of September in Burbank. Moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, it was the only scheduled one. Hilton opened by thanking the network for bringing Becerra “out of hiding,” a line aimed at Becerra’s sparse public schedule since the primary.

I just had to see video of that shot. Here's a story on that debate via KCRA [VIDEO]

Becerra spent much of the hour tying Hilton to Trump and resting on his long résumé in Sacramento and Washington. The criticism of Becerra as an empty suit comes mainly from that pattern: low visibility, reluctance to do more debates, and a campaign that treats experience and opposition to Trump as the answer rather than a break from the conditions that produced Skid Row.

The video does not argue that Hilton will win. It does show why the problem is still described as California’s to solve, even when the federal government steps in to clear a block. Whether that distinction moves any votes in November is a separate question. The footage is the exhibit.