Inland Empire, CA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said he would seek to foster partnerships with local organizations serving Black Californians and highlighted the Inland Empire’s role in the state’s economic trajectory during an interview on Nov. 6 with Inland Valley News (IVN).

Hilton also outlined proposals to lower gas prices, eliminate state income taxes on the first

$100,000 of earnings and take a harder line on homelessness.

Hilton, a former senior adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, is best known in the U.S. as a Fox News commentator and host of “The Next Revolution.”

He has also led policy-focused ventures such as the tech-driven nonprofit Crowdpac.

Hilton opened the conversation by noting his recent stops in the region, including cities such as San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland.

Hilton spoke on how he would address issues affecting Black Californians, pointing to education as the key equity challenge.

“Education is the pathway to opportunity for people,” he said. “We have the worst scores for reading and those scores are particularly bad, extremely bad, for Black and Latino students.”

However, California does not have the worst reading scores in the nation, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the state’s CAASPP testing results.

These results do indicate that California performs below the national average in reading and math, with Black and Latino students facing some of the state’s largest achievement gaps.

Hilton said Black students have been “badly let down” and called for a shift from “culture-based” curriculum to academic fundamentals.

“Let’s teach kids to read and write and do math before we focus on all of that,” he said, referring to ethnic studies requirements in California public schools.

Hilton pledged to work directly with community-based organizations across the state, including those in the Inland Empire.

“My door is open and I’m very, very excited to work with local organizations,” he said. “That is a big, big priority for me.”

He added that grassroots collaboration was a hallmark of his government experience in the United Kingdom.

Hilton tied many Inland Empire concerns to statewide affordability.

He repeated his pledge to push gas prices down to $3.00 per gallon and argued Democratic environmental policies have driven up costs.

“My pledge is $3 gas,” he said. “They’re pushing extreme climate regulations that don’t even help the environment.”

He said he hears frequently from working-class Inland Empire commuters burdened by long drives to job centers toward Los Angeles and Orange counties.

“The people who have really borne the brunt of that are working people, working families who just can’t afford to live here anymore,” Hilton said.

Homelessness, a central issue in the Inland Empire, was another focus.

Hilton criticized existing state strategies and pledged enforcement against encampments paired with treatment capacity.

“It is illegal to live on the streets,” he said. “If local law enforcement won’t enforce the law, then I will.”

In one of the region’s most watched primary matchups, Hilton briefly compared himself to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco without attacking him directly.

“I don’t want to say anything negative about other Republicans,” Hilton said, noting that Republicans have beenexperiencing an uptick in criticism from across the aisle. “I’ve got the business experience, the government reform experience, the media platform and the national support to not only win against the Democrats but to do a good job.”

He noted support from conservative figures, such as the late Charlie Kirk, and partnerships with national conservative organizing networks, despite claiming that his campaign is a non-partisan one.

Hilton urged Inland Empire voters, particularly those who feel overlooked, to participate in the electoral process.

“Don’t tell me your vote doesn’t matter,” he said, citing his Hungarian family’s experience fleeing communism. “It is in your hands.”

Hilton faces Bianco and other Republican contenders in the 2025 gubernatorial primary.