Trump-endorsed California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said Wednesday that he may hit the campaign trail with Spencer Pratt, the Los Angeles mayoral candidate and reality TV personality whose unlikely political rise has grabbed the attention of the Republican Party.
During an interview with Fox News, Hilton was pressed on whether he would consider bringing Pratt on the campaign trail.
“100%!” Hilton said. “[Pratt] made such an incredible impact. It’s an absolute travesty that Los Angeles as a city won’t have the same choice that the whole state will have. He laid out incredible plans.”
Pratt himself failed to advance in the mayor's race to the general election after incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and progressive city council member Nithya Raman won the top two spots in the primary.
Pratt, a political outsider, captured the attention of many voters through unconventional ads featuring AI-produced content.
Hilton acknowledged Pratt’s unique ads but said it was Pratt’s policies that drove the core of a strong mayoral campaign.
"Of course, everyone talks about his amazing campaign ads, and that's true, but they forget that he had incredibly strong substantive policies, especially on homelessness, which I said at the time, that's exactly what we need, not just in LA, but statewide,” Hilton said.
In California, the jungle primary system means that the top two vote-getters in the June primary advance to the election in November, regardless of party affiliation.
If Becerra wins in November, he would become the first Latino elected governor in a state where 40 percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino.
The last Republican to hold statewide office was former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose term ended in January 2011.
In California, elections can take days to determine a winner as mail-in ballots are accepted if postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after Election Day.
The state has up to 30 days after the primary election to count and verify the ballots. After that, the secretary of state has 38 days to certify the election, or until July 10.
California's new governor will succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited.