Getting to Know California’s Gubernatorial Candidates: Steve Hilton

To start the conversation, you've often said in your messaging that you're not a career politician.

Why do you feel this sets you apart from the other candidate in the race? Well, he really is.

He's

the definition of a career politician, 36 years as a career politician in the California machine.

And I think that's really important because if you look at everything that's gone wrong in California and that so many people want us to fix, the fact we've got the highest cost of living in the country, gas prices the highest in the country, housing costs the highest in the country, electric bills that have more than doubled.

in the last 10 years, on and on, all these things.

Homelessness that's still a massive problem, despite billions of dollars of our money going into it.

School results that are so disappointing, even though we spend among the highest in the country on that.

And you look at all these problems.

It really stems from the fact that we've now had 16 years of one party in control of everything in California, pushing a particular approach to these things, and the results are not good.

And so I think it really is time for an outsider to come in and shake up a system that obviously isn't working, especially for working-class Californians, for small business owners.

Most of my career I've been in business, a small business owner.

I started a couple of restaurants before moving here.

with my wife and my sons in 2012 from England.

But I've also worked in the government.

I've got business experience, government reform experience back in the U.K.

I worked as senior adviser to the prime minister in 10 Downing Street.

So I think that's the range of expertise and experience we need.

But I'm an outsider to the system here in California.

And I think we can all see we desperately need change.

Enough is enough, people are saying.

I hear that everywhere.

It's time for change, and let's fix California.

I'm glad you brought that up because you talked about your experience as a business owner, your experience working in the UK government for the prime minister.

Talk a little bit about more, talk more about that experience and how it maybe has influenced your career and philosophy and maybe even your campaign for governor.