California GOP frontrunner Steve Hilton blasts Newsom fearmongering
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Steve Hilton, the leading Republican candidate for California Governor, accused Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of “fearmongering” after the governor said he had a contingency plan if Democrats risk being shut out of the general election.
California’s primary elections are just two weeks away, and under the state’s jungle primary system (in which the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party) both Democrats and Republicans fear they won’t be represented in the general election.
Newsom expressed concerns about the Republican shutdown at a press conference last Thursday, explaining that it was a “break the window scenario” to ensure Democrats were not “left out.”
“There are a lot of people who have a deep understanding of what it would look like if the Democrats were locked out, and we will do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Newsom said. “I’ll leave it there.”
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Former MSNBC host Joy Reid warned that California Democrats risk losing ground in the governor’s race, arguing that the state is vital to the party’s national political future. (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for further comment.
Hilton claimed Newsom’s comments were a tactic to divide Republican voters between him and Republican candidate Chad Bianco.
“He’s not trying to stop the ‘top two Republican’ result because that’s not possible and never has been,” Hilton told Fox News Digital. “Chad Bianco is way behind in the polls and fundraising and has no chance of finishing in the top two.”
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Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to expand women’s access to capital and wealth-building opportunities during a press conference at San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo, California, on March 18, 2026. (Tayfun Coşkun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Polling averages from RealClearPolitics show Hilton leading the pack of candidates, with Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra close behind. Meanwhile, Bianco remains in fourth place.
Hilton argued that having the two Democrats face off would be Newsom’s “ideal scenario,” saying it would divert attention from Newsom’s “terrible record” as he has his sights set on the 2028 presidential race.
“Newsom and Democrats are fear-mongering about the RR matchup in the general election to encourage Republicans to split their votes and thus ensure all Democrats are in the top two,” Hilton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said.
In a video sent to X on Tuesday, Hilton called on her Republican opponent, Bianco, to drop out of the race to ensure a Republican is on the ballot.
Political strategists said there is a legitimate fear among both Democrats and Republicans that their party could be shut out of the general election because of the jungle primary system that went into effect after voters approved it in a 2010 statewide referendum.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democratic candidate for governor, speaks at a roundtable meeting with representatives of the Child Guidance Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County, credited via Getty Images)
“This is really the first gubernatorial election where there’s no obvious winner, which is why it’s such a tense situation,” Richard Winger, owner of Ballot Access News, told Fox News Digital.
Winger and former Democratic Sen. Dario Frommer pointed to other races in the general election where the seat was open and two candidates from the same party faced off.
“Republicans were left out in 2018 when the top two vote-getters in the California U.S. Senate primary were Kamala Harris and Rep. Linda Sanchez, and there have been other races where Republicans or Democrats were left out of the general election because of the top two,” Frommer, now a legislative strategist, told Fox News Digital.
“I think there was a genuine, genuine concern from the Democratic party early on, because there were so many Democratic candidates, that Hilton and Bianco were going to get the first two votes,” Frommer told Fox News Digital. “Now that’s changed a little bit.”
Frommer said the top two vote-getters based on current polls will be Hilton, Becerra and Democratic candidate Tom Steyer.
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But Frommer also said Democrats aren’t clear either.
“Usually by this point, a lot more people are voting overall, but they’re not, so I think that concern for Democrats is real, that people are waiting too long to fill out their ballots and there are only two Republican candidates,” Frommer told Fox News Digital.
Fears that both parties will be shut out of this fall’s general election have led Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio to organize a ballot initiative campaign to eliminate the jungle primary system; This is a measure that could appear on the ballot in 2028.
“I think if two Republicans or two Democrats make the ballot, then the anger of voters is going to be high and it’s just going to focus on what a failed experiment this is,” Maviglio said of the jungle primary system.
