What happened in this episode?
The All-In Podcast hosts speak with California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and later bring on Spencer Pratt, who describes his own Los Angeles mayoral run and attacks Democratic governance in California. Hilton argues one-party rule in Sacramento has produced the state’s worst-in-the-nation outcomes on poverty, unemployment and cost of living, and he frames his campaign as “the people versus the machine”. He outlines a series of policy pledges: cancelling high-speed rail, reducing government headcount, cutting state income tax (including making the first $150,000 tax-free), capping vehicle registration at $73, and a broad deregulatory target he says would reduce California’s rules from more than 420,000 to under 200,000.
Hilton also proposes changes to energy and climate policy, claiming “hidden taxes” such as the low carbon fuel standard and cap-and-invest add substantially to petrol prices and could be rolled back to move California towards $3-a-gallon fuel. He criticises state-funded homelessness and harm-reduction programmes, alleging nonprofits worsen street disorder.
Pratt amplifies claims about corruption and election administration, arguing ballot harvesting is legal but can be abused and asserting that separating mail ballots from signed envelopes makes misconduct hard to prove. In a separate segment, Pratt describes a mass-tort lawsuit he says targets state parks, the City of Los Angeles and LADWP over alleged negligence linked to a Pacific Palisades fire, including claims about an earlier blaze left to smoulder and reservoirs left empty. The hosts challenge parts of Pratt’s election-related assertions, pressing him on evidence and legal standards.
