All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

Steve Hilton & Spencer Pratt: Fixing California, Cheaper Gas, Ballot Fraud & CA Republicans

September 23, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Steve Hilton and the Fight for California's Future

On a Tuesday morning in MacArthur Park, the Republican candidate for California governor watched a scene he says encapsulates everything wrong with the state. Dozens of people were smoking crack and injecting fentanyl in broad daylight, while four nonprofits funded by taxpayer money handed out crack pipes, needles, and drugs. One of those nonprofit workers, caught by the U.S. Attorney, was also selling the drugs on the side. "We are paying for these people," Hilton says. "They take the taxes, they buy fentanyl, and then they give it to needles."

This is the California that Steve Hilton, a British immigrant and tech entrepreneur, is running to fix. His argument is simple: after 16 years of one-party Democratic control, the state has become a place where doing the right thing is punished and doing the wrong thing is rewarded. And he believes voters are finally ready to break with that system.

The Machine and the Exodus

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What you'll learn

  • 1 Timestamped Outline
  • 2 (00:00) **Introduction of Steve Hilton** - Republican candidate for California governor, a British immigrant who moved to the US in 2012
  • 3 (03:03) **The Case Against One-Party Rule** - Hilton argues 16 years of Democratic control have created a self-serving elite
  • 4 (06:58) **The Machine vs. The People** - Discussion of how entrenched interests control the political machinery
  • 5 (09:02) **Why Californians Feel Trapped** - The psychological barrier to voting Republican in a deep blue state
  • 6 (11:46) **The Exodus Threat** - Business leaders are signaling they will leave California if Hilton doesn't win
  • 7 (12:13) **Path to Victory and the Debate Strategy** - Hilton's numbers and what he needs to do in the September 30th debate

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Steve Hilton Spencer Pratt

Show Notes

(0:00) Steve Hilton joins the Besties!

(3:53) How one-party rule broke the state, regulatory bloat & who really writes the laws

(12:09) The path to victory: the persuadable voter, the cost-of-living pitch & the case against Becerra

(21:46) Spencer Pratt joins: the message that cut through & the LA race that flipped

(26:58) The city up close: the parks, small business & who the rules actually reward

(36:54) Ballot harvesting, voter ID & whether the system is rigged or just legal

(47:13) The Palisades: the empty reservoirs, suing the state & what Spencer does next

 

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Explore ideas, industries, and technologies worth understanding with Chamath every week on Learn with Me: https://research.socialcapital.com/allin

 

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