Elias: California governor hopefuls Porter, Hilton making big blunders

For California politicians who fancy themselves the state s next governor this fall has become an unprecedented season of self-destruction The field aiming to succeed Gavin Newsom is the the bulk crowded in modern memory Related Articles Elias Naming rights could ease California bullet train s financial woes Elias California s new housing law unlikely to help the a multitude of who need it Elias Digs at fellow Dems in Harris book suggest she s not running in So far the open seat with no obvious successor has drawn the likes of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa former state Assemblymember Ian Calderon former state Controller Betty Yee former Orange County U S Rep Katie Porter former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton former state Attorney General Xavior Becerra state Schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco Waiting in the wings is Democratic U S Sen Alex Padilla whom surveys indicate would become the favorite if he declares for the office For a while the polling leader was former Vice President Kamala Harris the former U S Senator who dropped out after months of considering a run She was the first candidate to self-destruct when her September book belittled and griped about major national Democratic figures like Illinois Gov J B Pritzker Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro Newsom and even her vice presidential pick Minnesota Gov Tim Walz Harris removed herself from the run for governor but her book might take her out of the presidential campaign too having established her as a first-rate whiner Soon after Porter the early leader in greater part gubernatorial polls was videotaped snapping at a CBS News reporter who required tough questions and threatening to end their interview Another tape hastily emerged revealing her as a boss screaming at an aide Her behavior forced her to apologize and will hurt her polls standing These episodes revealed two inept politicos harming themselves but the episodes cannot match the incompetence demonstrated by current poll leader Hilton His campaign office sent out a press release a day after Newsom in late October shut down the -mile stretch of Interstate between San Onofre and Oceanside The reason was a celebration of the Marine Corps upcoming th anniversary featuring Vice President JD Vance It featured live artillery fire over the freeway Despite assurances from the Marines that there could be no mishaps Newsom feared firing artillery shells over the freeway could cause accidents and even deaths This drew Hilton s derision The I- disgrace was the final straw noted Hilton For months it has been clear that the focus of Gavin Newsom s attention has been running for president Instead of an actual governor California for the last sparse months has had a social media manager focused on dopey posts This weekend was the final straw Newsom caused real harm to Californians with his pathetic divisive stunt needlessly closing the I- so he could blame President Trump for the resulting chaos In fact Newsom s action likely spared Californians a lot of grief By the time Hilton s campaign sent his release Newsom s worries had been proven valid This became clear after a chunk of shrapnel from an artillery shell fired over I- landed on the hood of a California Highway Patrol cruiser parked on an off-ramp and certain more hit a police motorcycle in the Vance motorcade Other shrapnel landed on the freeway Imagine the havoc had traffic been moving at its usual pace of to mph along the same stretch of -lane highway Consider the traffic jam that could have ensued Imagine the rear-enders and prospective injuries averted because the road was closed Yet Hilton blithely sent out his press release a day later when the shrapnel shower had been widely documented He led the entire field by one point in the latest Emerson College poll but that doesn t figure to last once voters learn of his press release faux pas Hilton s office did not respond to requests for an explanation of why the press release went out when it did and has carried on as if nothing happened No apology with phone calls and emails not returned When will rivals start advertising Hilton s blunder In the end Hilton s main gripe about Newsom was proven false It should be complicated for any candidate to survive this let alone a California Republican hoping to make next year s runoff by unifying the GOP vote around himself Talk about a season of self-destruction Email Thomas Elias at tdelias aol com and read more of his columns online at californiafocus net