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SAN DIEGO -- California is the birthplace of Hollywood. Yet, if you were to write a script about the unlikely rise of unconventional Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and his unorthodox campaign for the top job in the Golden State, no studio would buy it. The story is too far-fetched.

On immigration, who would have thought a one-time strategist adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who broke with his boss to support Brexit -- a referendum that allowed nativists who were worried there were too many immigrants coming to the island to vote for Great Britain to exit the European Union -- would now be vying to become governor of the state with the largest number of immigrants?

On refugees, who could have predicted that someone whose family name was originally Hircsak and whose parents were Hungarian refugees who fled to Great Britain to escape Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe would promise that, if elected California governor, he will help advance the agenda of the most anti-immigrant president in U.S. history?

Besides securing the U.S.-Mexico border and carrying out mass deportations, President Donald Trump would also like the United States to keep out legal immigrants like Hilton and refugees like his parents. That's awkward.

A recent Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll found that Hilton was the choice of 37% of California voters. His Democratic opponent, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, has the support of 55% of voters. And 7% are undecided.

Those numbers are likely to change after the first debate between Hilton and Becerra, which is scheduled for Sept. 30 in Los Angeles and will be televised on CNN.

Only about 25% of the state's voters are registered Republicans. Democratic voters account for 45% of the electorate. So while it is true that Hilton trails Becerra by a country mile, he is also exceeding expectations for a Republican in this deep blue state.

Here you have a fellow who has never held elected office, not in the United States where he has lived since relocating to California in 2012 and not in his native Great Britain where he remained a subject of the Crown until he renounced his citizenship in 2025 -- just in time for him to file papers to run the nation's most populous state. In fact, Hilton couldn't even vote in U.S. elections until five years ago because he didn't bother to become a U.S. citizen until 2021, nine years after coming to the United States.

The Brit's one-foot-in, one-foot-out approach to citizenship is an interesting twist on the Republican slogan of "America First."

Still, Hilton has some strong cards to play. He is a professional communicator who is likable one-on-one, understands the media and connects with voters. He takes chances with technology, and he has skillfully used AI videos and social media to attack Becerra.

But the Republican can also deal from the bottom of the deck. He knows how to dodge questions from reporters, change the subject and deflect attention away from some of the more controversial chapters of his life and toward the failings of his opponent. Hilton also knows that he has to avoid the quicksand of being affiliated with Trump, who has endorsed his campaign and surely expects undying loyalty if he wins.

More than two-thirds of Californians disapprove of Trump's performance in office. And given that, in June 2025, Trump declared war on California when ICE agents, federal officers and U.S. Marines invaded the state, many people in this state probably also consider the president to be a malignant force that threatens democracy.

It's no wonder that Hilton, who has said that he is proud to have received Trump's endorsement, is now courting voters who don't support the president. So much for loyalty.

Although I have to say that -- as a native Californian who has seen the California Republican Party anger and alienate Latino voters for the past 30 years by relying on racist demagoguery to scare up votes from those concerned about the browning of the state -- it does warm my heart to see that the California GOP has finally found a foreigner with a funny accent that it likes. Talk about white privilege.

This foreigner is slick and slippery. You can't believe anything he says. Trying to pin him down on a position is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.

With Hilton, you're never quite sure whether he's trying to get your vote or sell you a timeshare. Buyer beware.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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