Hilton, Bianco show strong momentum going into August

By Evan Symon, August 1, 2025 4:30 pm

With most of the 2026 California Gubernatorial race media focus on Democrat candidates, the top GOP candidates have managed to top most Democrats in terms of money raised, poll support, and other key areas.

Right now, the major Democrat candidates, which include Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, former Diamond Resorts CEO Stephen Cloobeck, former State Controller Betty Yee, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, are all fighting for the top spot in the wake of former VP Kamala Harris deciding not to run. Based on 2018 and 2022 primary results, Democrats are likely to pull in roughly 4 million of the expected 7.1 million votes, with just under 60% of voters total coming out for them. That’s 8 major candidates split on that alone. Fundraising, as the Globe pointed out, is heavily split too.

Meanwhile, the top two Republican candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron and former Fox News political commentator Steve Hilton, have been out and about on the trail and not really fighting each other for voters and dollars. Both have simply been going after state policies, Governor Gavin Newsom, and other issues, and the results have showed.

Bianco announced on Thursday that he has raised more than $1.6 million for his first 2025 fundraising period, with $1.1 million on hand. Bianco had more of a grassroots effort going as well. Sheriff Bianco raised $1.64 million, with $321k raised from 8,500 donations of $100 or less, although large donations have been constant as well.

Hilton gave his own announcement on Thursday as well, showing similar numbers. According to the Hilton campaign, they have raised over $1.8 million dollars, with donations coming in from 56 of the 58 counties in the state. And, like Bianco, Hilton has gone on a big media blitz, with hundreds of interviews with national, state, and local TV, radio, and print outlets, including podcasts like The Charlie Kirk Show, Tim Pool IRL, and the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show. Overall, the Hilton campaign said that they were doing better than expected after their first 100 days of campaigning.
Hilton and Bianco

“I’m so excited to see the incredible momentum we’ve built in just 100 days,” Hilton said in a statement Thursday. “Everywhere I go, up and down the state, I see it in people’s eyes: we’ve had it with this one-party rule that has made life such a terrible struggle. It’s time for change, it’s time for common sense, and it’s time for some political balance. I’m more confident than ever that we will make it happen. On to the next 100 days of energy and momentum!”

Hilton also gave his latest list of endorsements, including Congressman Kevin Kiley, Congressman Tom McClintock, Vivek Ramaswamy, Charlie Kirk, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Jon Voight, Yolo County District Attorney and architect of Proposition 36 Jeff Reisig, Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), and former California State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero. This is in comparison to Bianco’s 19 state legislators, 2 Congressional members and more, including the majority of County Sheriffs from across the state, with both candidates getting endorsements from their base strengths. Democrats, meanwhile, have been fighting over who gets the support of Newsom, Harris, former President Barack Obama, and others.

In addition, polls have shown that both Hilton and Bianco have been consistently in the top 4 candidates from any party, with Hilton even recently topping Porter for first place in a recent poll.

All of this points to Bianco and Hilton being much stronger candidates than many expected, and with Democrats needing to get a strong front runner soon. They have 8 major candidates gunning for 55%-60% of the total primary vote this coming March, 9 should Rick Caruso jump in, with only Porter managing to get over the 20% threshold in polls without Harris (in February). The most recent polls have her leading Dems, but with support only in the teens. Dems had not been expecting the “Bash Brothers” approach from Republicans, but based on the numbers given out by Bianco and Hilton…it’s kinda working.

https:// californiaglobe .com/fr/gubernatorial-candidate-steve-hilton-shows-better-than-expected-results-first-100-days-of-campaign/