Former Fox News host Steve Hilton said he is “seriously considering running” for governor of California, which would make him the first Republican to lead the Golden State in a decade and a half.
The commentator and political adviser said in a Friday interview with “2Way Tonight” host Mark Halperin that he would soon be making a decision on whether to run during the 2026 cycle, during which former Vice President Kamala Harris could be an opponent.
“The way I’m putting it right now is, Kamala Harris is telling us that she is too, almost using that exact same language, and that she’ll make a decision by the end of the summer,” Hilton said.
“I’ll make mine much sooner than that,” he promised.
There has not been a Republican chief executive in the state since California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in early 2011.
Since then, former California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown served two terms from 2011 to 2019, decades after serving two other terms from 1975 to 1983.
Incumbent California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has served since 2019, even surviving a recall election in 2021, but he will be term-limited in the next cycle.
But Hilton informed Halperin