Conservative commentator and ex-Fox News host Steve Hilton to run for California governor

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Conservative commentator Steve Hilton announced Tuesday that he's joining the 2026 race for California governor, running as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, who is prevented by law from seeking a third term.

Hilton, who hosted a show on Fox News for six years and worked as an adviser to former British prime minister David Cameron, faulted state Democrats during a formal campaign launch in Huntington Beach, southeast of Los Angeles, for the state's notoriously high taxes, soaring home prices and “the destruction of the California dream.”

He said he would welcome a candidacy by former Vice President Kamala Harris, a one-time California U.S. senator and attorney general who has not ruled out a run for the job.

He said the governor's job is not a “consolation prize to be handed out to a failed and rejected machine politician from Washington … who thinks she should get this job because of her identity, not her ability.”

Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother and would become the first Black woman elected governor in the U.S., if she runs and wins.

Hilton also blamed the vast scale of January's Southern California wildfires on “Democratic extremism and incompetence,” along with the party's “industrial complex” of activists, unions and bureaucrats.

The causes of the deadlyPalisades Fire and Eaton Fire remain under investigation. Both ignited Jan. 7 during powerful Santa Ana winds in a region that had been bone dry for eight months. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes, destroyed more than 6,800 structures and killed at least 12 people. The Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 18 people.

Hilton did not specifically detail what he was blaming on Democrats. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, later ousted the fire chief amid a public rift over preparations for a potential blaze and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation. The water system used to fight the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles buckled under the demands of what turned out to be the most destructive fire in city history, with some hydrants running dry. Bass has faced criticism for being out of the country when the blaze started.

With the theme “Golden Again: Great Jobs, Great Homes, Great Kids,” his campaign said Hilton will be “reinforcing his commitment to positive, practical solutions instead of today’s ideology and dogma," according to a statement.

His campaign said Hilton's brand of “positive populism” would focus on helping working families.

Hilton joins a field crowded by prominent Democrats including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, is the other Republican in the race. The race could be dramatically shaken up if Harris decides to run.

California operates a top-two primary system where all candidates compete on one ballot, regardless of party, and the two who receive the most votes go onto the general election in November.

Republicans have not won a statewide race in heavily Democratic California in nearly two decades. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the last Republican to be elected governor in 2006.

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton listens to video presentations as he announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Supporters cheer for Steve Hilton as he announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Author and former Fox News host Steve Hilton announced his run for California governor, as a Republican to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, during an event in Huntington Beach, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)

Steve Hilton speaks at the New Way California Summit at the Hollenbeck Youth Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)