Politics · United States · 10 hrs ago
Steve Hilton criticizes California’s homelessness policies during Skid Row visit
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton visited Skid Row, an area of Los Angeles with large homeless encampments.
He called California’s homelessness situation a political failure and blamed Democratic leaders and their policies.
Hilton also criticized publicly funded nonprofits and housing developers, but his claims about their motives were not independently established in the story.
He said his approach would include enforcing existing laws and clearing encampments.
His visit came after federal and local authorities arrested 23 of 28 people charged in a drug trafficking investigation targeting alleged sellers in and around Skid Row.
Homelessness and public spending are major issues in the governor’s race between Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra, with voting underway ahead of the Nov.
3 election.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton criticized California’s homelessness policies during a visit to Los Angeles’ Skid Row.
He called the homelessness crisis a “political scandal” and blamed Democratic leaders’ policies.
Hilton said his plan includes enforcing existing laws and removing encampments from streets.
His visit came as homelessness and public spending were campaign issues in the governor’s race.
- Who
- Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor of California.
- What
- He criticized the state’s homelessness policies and called the situation a political scandal.
- When
- Fox News Digital visited Skid Row on Oct. 9, 2026; the article was published Oct. 12.
- Where
- Skid Row in Los Angeles, California.
- Why
- Hilton said Democratic leaders’ policies had caused the problem and argued that laws should be enforced and encampments removed.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Federal prosecutors charged the founder of a Los Angeles-area homelessness nonprofit with wire fraud.
Federal and local authorities arrested 23 of 28 defendants charged in a drug trafficking investigation targeting alleged dealers in and around Skid Row.
Fox News Digital visited Skid Row as Hilton surveyed encampments.
Fox News published its report on Hilton’s criticism.
- Candidate
- Steve Hilton, Republican gubernatorial candidate
- Location
- Skid Row, Los Angeles
- Visit date
- Oct. 9, 2026
- Drug investigation arrests
- 23 of 28 defendants
- Governor’s race
- Hilton was challenging Democrat Xavier Becerra in a race scheduled for Nov. 3
What people are saying
No, it is not a crisis. It's actually a scandal. It's a political scandal because the people in charge, they've caused this with their policies.
My plan is very simple. How we get clean streets in California. Number one, enforce the law, get people off the streets.
The point about these non-profits is that they're part of this philosophy, the ideology of harm reduction, all the things we've talked about, which means that they are not actually trying to solve the problem.
Sources
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