All In Interview - Steve Hilton - Recap and Notes - April 29 2026

April 29 2026

(from NotebookLM)

The Introduction and Background

• The Setup: The hosts introduce Steve Hilton, a British immigrant and Republican candidate leading the polls for California Governor.
• Origin Story: Hilton explains his background as the child of Hungarian refugees who fled communism. He details growing up in a working-class family in England and being heavily influenced by Margaret Thatcher, who he credits with saving the UK from the "winter of discontent" and union dominance in the 1970s.
• "All In": Hilton mentions he moved to California in 2012 for his wife's career in tech. He proudly shares that he renounced his UK citizenship to become an American citizen, fully committing to his new home.

Tax Policy and Economic Vision

• The Tax Pitch: Hilton unveils his cornerstone policy: no state income tax for individuals earning under $100,000, and a 7.5% flat tax for everyone earning over $100,000. This is designed to provide immediate relief to working-class residents struggling with the state's highest-in-the-nation poverty rate.
• Balancing the Budget: To afford this, Hilton says the state must reduce its budget by about 18.5% (roughly $60 billion), returning spending to pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
• Bipartisan Appeal: Hilton notes that even his Democratic opponent, Katie Porter, recently admitted on a debate stage that she agrees with his tax-free plan for the first $100,000.

Government Waste and "Cal Doge"

• Investigating Fraud: Hilton details a project he launched called "Cal Doge" (California Department of Government Efficiency) to root out fraud. His team estimates California wastes $80 billion a year.
• Where the Money Goes: He shares examples of this waste: $1 billion meant for low-income solar panels largely diverted to nonprofit "environmental justice" campaigns, and $350 million in cannabis taxes meant for substance abuse prevention instead funding activist networks.

The Housing Crisis

• The Three Culprits: Hilton argues that California's housing costs are driven by union power, litigation, and climate dogma.
• Weaponizing Regulations: He explains that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) allows anyone to sue over housing projects. Unions file 70% of these lawsuits to strongarm developers into signing expensive, union-only project labor agreements.
• The Fix: Hilton wants to cap government impact fees at 3% of construction costs and eliminate the private right to sue under CEQA.

Energy Policy and Gas Prices

• Importing Oil: The hosts ask why California gas is $7-8 a gallon. Hilton explains that despite having abundant local oil reserves, state agencies (like CalGEM) refuse to issue drilling permits.
• The Climate Irony: Because of these bans, California imports nearly 80% of its oil, primarily from Iraq and the Amazon rainforest. Hilton points out the hypocrisy of shipping oil via highly polluting tankers just to satisfy state climate regulations, and pledges to immediately approve local drilling permits to lower gas to $3 a gallon.

Education and Schools

• Failing Grades: Despite spending over $27,000 per student, two-thirds of California students fail to meet math standards. Hilton blames ideological teachers' unions for maintaining a monopoly over the system.
• The Mississippi Model: For short-term fixes, Hilton points to Mississippi's recent success: mandating phonics-based reading instruction, holding students back if they cannot read by the third grade, and assigning public performance grades to individual schools and teachers.

Crime and Public Safety

• Prison Closures: Hilton ties the state's property crime wave to the closure of state prisons, which forced violent criminals into county jails. This created overcrowding and a "catch and release" culture where local police and prosecutors stop bothering to arrest people.
• Reversing the Trend: He promises to stop the prison closures and increase capacity so the state can enforce accountability and properly rehabilitate inmates (many of whom are dyslexic or functionally illiterate).

A Three-Point Homelessness Plan

• 1. Enforce the Law: Following the recent Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling, Hilton says local governments no longer have an excuse. He will use state law enforcement to clear illegal encampments if local mayors refuse to do so.
• 2. Mandate Sobriety: Over 80% of the homeless population suffers from addiction or severe mental illness. Hilton will require sobriety and rehab participation as a condition for receiving state housing services.
• 3. Large-Scale Asylums: Instead of spending $900,000 per door on single housing units, Hilton wants to apply for federal Medicaid waivers to build large-scale mental health treatment facilities.

The Path to Victory

• The Math Works: To close the show, Hilton breaks down his odds in a heavily Democratic state. He explains that a 2026 midterm election will likely see around 11.7 million total votes. To win, he needs about 5.9 million votes—and notes that Donald Trump got 6.1 million votes in California in 2024 without even campaigning there.
• The Pitch: He believes his "Californable" platform (affordable housing, $3 gas, lower taxes, and school choice) will allow him to build a successful multi-racial, working-class coalition.