From Pete Wilson’s California to One-Party Decline: Steve Hilton’s Poll Lead Gives Me Hope

I landed in California in 1990 as a young man fresh out of Northeastern University with a bachelor’s degree. Pete Wilson was governor, the economy was strong, and the state still embodied Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America.” Businesses were expanding, opportunity felt abundant, and the mood was optimistic. As a conservative raised during the Reagan years, I believed California represented the American Dream in action.

Thirty-six years later, that dream has been replaced by a cautionary tale of single-party Democratic rule. What was once a thriving state is now defined by visible homelessness, rising crime in many areas, and crushing tax burdens that drive residents and businesses away.

The statistics tell a sobering story. California still leads the nation in total homelessness. While the Newsom administration recently touted a 9 percent drop in unsheltered homelessness for 2025, this comes after years of spending tens of billions of dollars with limited results. Crime, particularly retail theft and property crime, exploded under soft-on-crime policies like Proposition 47. Passed in 2014 during Kamala Harris’s tenure as Attorney General, when her office helped craft the ballot language that helped sell the measure to voters, the initiative downgraded many thefts and drug offenses to misdemeanors. The predictable result has been smash-and-grab rings that treat stores like open buffets and a public sense that accountability has taken a permanent vacation. High earners and businesses face some of the highest income and gas taxes in the country, contributing to ongoing out-migration. The state has lost hundreds of thousands of residents to other states, with U-Haul reporting California leading the nation in outbound moves for six straight years. Major companies have relocated headquarters, taking jobs with them.

This decline did not happen by accident. It is the predictable result of expansive government, regulatory overload, and a refusal to hold individuals accountable. As someone with a career in financial services, I have seen firsthand how policies that punish success and reward dependency erode prosperity.

Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom has been jet-setting around the world like a rock star on a farewell tour, telling international audiences that President Trump is “temporary.” This is the same governor who lectured Californians on strict COVID lockdowns and masking rules while he attended a lavish, maskless dinner party at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant with lobbyists and donors during the height of the pandemic. While the rest of us pay the ever-increasing bar tab, he champions sanctuary-state policies that force California taxpayers to cover billions in services for illegal aliens. He also continues to support rules allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports, which many rightly view as an attack on fairness and the hard-earned opportunities of female athletes.

That is why the recent Emerson College poll from mid-February 2026 is so encouraging. Conservative commentator Steve Hilton is leading the crowded field for governor with 17 percent support in the nonpartisan primary. He edges out Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell – the same lawmaker who developed troubling ties to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative – and Republican Sheriff Chad Bianco, both at 14 percent, with many voters still undecided. For the first time in decades, there is a realistic chance of breaking the one-party monopoly that has dominated Sacramento.

As a father, business owner, and community volunteer who values discipline, integrity, and personal responsibility, I see in Hilton’s surge the possibility of returning to proven principles. California does not need more government programs or higher taxes to pay for failed experiments and sanctuary mandates. It needs spending restraint through rigorous performance audits, criminal justice reform that prioritizes accountability, and tax policy that broadens the base while lowering rates to keep talent and investment here. Regulatory relief for businesses and practical conservation make far more sense than ideological overreach.

We also need structural reforms: term limits strictly enforced and a ban on stock trading by elected officials to restore trust. Only citizens should determine policy and representation.

I still love this state. I raised my family here in an interfaith household, coached youth sports, and volunteered in the community. But watching the destruction wrought by decades of unchecked progressive governance has been frustrating. Like the classic The Who song, I refuse to be fooled again by promises that never deliver.

Steve Hilton’s current polling lead represents a rare opening. Californians have the opportunity in 2026 to choose a different path, one rooted in limited government, individual responsibility, and economic freedom. It is time to make the Golden State golden once more.