Trump endorses Republican Steve Hilton in California governor’s race

By Logan Schiciano, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Republican Steve Hilton in the California governor’s race, potentially shaking up a crowded race to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post early Monday morning. “Steve Hilton has my COMPLETE & TOTAL ENDORSEMENT.”

The president called Hilton, a British immigrant and former strategist in UK politics, a “fine man,” who Trump said he has known and respected for many years.

Hilton’s campaign thanked Trump for the endorsement in a post on social media, writing, “With President Trump’s full backing and federal support, we are going to take California back and make it better than ever before!”

Hilton, a former Fox News host, is vying with Chad Bianco, the Republican sheriff of Riverside County, and eight major Democratic candidates to emerge from California’s June 2 primary, which puts the top two candidates, regardless of party, on the ballot in November.

Concern has been growing amongst Democrats that the scattered field of Democratic candidates could split the vote enough for Hilton and Bianco to be the top two vote-getters in the primary, locking Democrats out of the general election in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor in nearly two decades.

During an interview with CNN’s Elex Michaelson in November, Hilton blamed Democrats for high housing costs and gas prices in California and said he believes voters in the state want change.

“On and on through every issue I’ll be making the case that it’s 15 years of one-party rule that have brought us to this point, where working families can barely afford to pay the bills, where we have the highest unemployment. That’s all the result of Democrat policies, not Donald Trump,” Hilton said, defending the president.

Hilton attended Oxford University and got his start in politics working on the UK’s Conservative Party during the tenure of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, according to his campaign website.

After building a career in business, he returned to politics, serving as a senior adviser to former UK Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to California in 2012.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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