Posted on 05/17/2026 9:28:52 PM PDT by Angelino97
A deceptive PAC is playing dirty tricks to promote “MAGA” Republican Steve Hilton for California governor. The people behind this PAC are either Democrats or the Hilton campaign.
Let me explain.
California has a “top two” electoral system. Every candidate, from every party, runs in a “free for all” June primary; the “top two” face off in the November general election.
About 45% of California voters are registered as Democratic vs. 25% Republican, 23% Independent, and 7% some third party. This means the “top two” candidates in November are often both Democrats.
But this year so many Democrats are running for governor, splitting their support, that the “top two” in recent polls have both been Republicans: Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco. Unless Democratic voters rally behind a single candidate – or unless Hilton or Bianco falls far behind the other – voters might be faced with only these two Republicans on the November ballot.
Enter the dirty trick.
These past few days, I received two mailers “attacking” Republican Steve Hilton. The charge? He’s too “MAGA.” He’s endorsed by Trump. But pay attention -- this mailer is really meant to encourage me to vote for Hilton.
How so? Because this mailer was sent to registered Republicans such as myself, by “Organizations Opposing Republican Candidates for Governor.”
Why would a PAC, sporting such a glaringly anti-Republican name, contact Republicans and warn them about Hilton being too “MAGA” – unless they want to drive Republicans into the Hilton camp?
That’s the dirty trick. This ostensibly anti-Hilton mailer is calculated to encourage Republicans to support Hilton.
Who sent it? If we ask cui bono, then it was either sent by Democrats (to rally Republicans behind Hilton and prevent Bianco from being the other “top two” candidate), or by the Hilton campaign itself. This latter scenario is not impossible. Hilton has a history of ugly politics, and he might yet think that he can win in November, should the Democratic candidate be so far left as to drive Independent voters into the Hilton camp.
No matter. I had already long ago decided to vote for Chad Bianco. Trump can’t sway me on that.
Neither can “Organizations Opposing Republican Candidates for Governor” convince me to vote for Hilton, however desperately they might want me to.
I only vote the way mailers tell me to vote or not vote.
As dirty tricks go, that one is pretty clean. It is no worse than fund-raiders taking a survey of supporters to send to some government bigwig knowing it won’t change anything, but gets the reader engaged (and possibly helps shape future campaigns).
It’s Democrats, trying to ensure a Hilton vs Becerra race in November :
I’m of the impression that in some of the bluest of blue states, the best one can hope for is a moderate Democrat...Asking for a John Fetterman type would be pushing it...But what about the San Jose mayor who Rick Caruso endorses? Matt Mahan?
I’ll take “Things we don’t need to worry about” for $100, Alex.
You can be very sure if it ends up as 2 Republicans the RATs will change the rules. That is the way those scumbags play.
That's a damned lie. The worst thing he'd done was design a poster campaign for the British Conservative Party that they rejected for being too negative.
The only dirty trick here is this article.
If the Kalifornia democRATs/DemoKKKrats can get one democRAT on the November ballot, they will “count” the November ballots for as long as it takes for the democRAT to “win.”
It’s Kalifornia, Jake.
Dumb!
If it’s a dirty trick, it must be the cleanest dirty trick in politics.
The Dems are too busy attacking each other. And from what I see everywhere both the Hilton and Bianco voters are very solidly in each of their respective camps.
The only real question is whether Xavier and Steyer get sufficiently beaten down below Bianco so we have a GOP runoff in November. And both GOP candidates seem to be following RR’s 11th Commandment...
Is it just me, or is this nonsense?
And, by the way, they are not democratic voters, they are Democrat voters.
No love lost between top Republicans in CA governor's race Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco.
Chad Bianco's Wife Complains of Steve Hilton.
The fight between Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco is getting ugly.
Operation Chaos...
It’s not just you...
It’s Democrats betting on the fact that at least half of registered Republicans in California suffer from TDS and can be swayed this way - like you.
Like this one:
Commonwealth of Virginia
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Making selections
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?
Yes
No
Not neccesarily the correct conclusion.
Welcome to the real world. I used this one in 2002. When New York State had an actually functioning Republican Party, it regularly paid an openly Gay group to mail letters to selected Democrats and Independents urging them to vote for the Democrat in some campaigns. It worked a few times.
Maybe Democrats did it and his perceptions of an appeal for Hilton is only because of the “scary” things a Republican would do, like cleaning up the city and tackling vagrancy and crime.
I had that experience in my 30s with a bona fide ACLU mailer. Seeing what they advocated for, it cemented my born-again conservative leanings.
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