Steve Hilton can change California’s direction, while Karen Bass can keep LA from veering far left

California voters face a clear choice in 2026 between progress and decline. 

The vast majority of Californians believe the state is on the wrong track.

And our problems are clear.

We are over-regulated. We are over-taxed. Homelessness is out of control.

We’ve wasted too much money. Fraud is rampant.

People and businesses are leaving the state.

Follow The Post’s election coverage

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• Single vote spares Nithya Raman from DSA revolt before LA mayoral election

The California dream is under siege, because of 16 years of one-party Democrat rule.

Do we continue with more of the same — or do we take a different path?

We need change. The question is what kind of change. 

Not the 273 tax increases on the ballot.

All those tax increases will just fuel the continued big spending of Democrats in Sacramento.

Not the extremism of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Here are the latest Opinion stories on the 2026 election:

• The California Post endorses Steve Hilton for governor over establishment pick Xavier Becerra for real change
• Experienced Karen Bass is a far better vote than radical socialist Nithya Raman in the LA mayoral race
• Even if the billionaire tax fails, California faces looming tech revolt
• Time to vote — the future of California hangs in the balance
• Xavier Becerra’s answer to California’s cost-of-living crisis is yet another tax

Radical change — socialism — will just take us further in the direction of decline.

But practical, common-sense change can make all the difference.

We don’t need our leaders to be flashy. We’ve had eight years of the Gavin Newsom show.

We need leaders who work hard and respond to what the public needs.

Xavier Becerra is not the man for the top job.

He is an accidental candidate, a do-nothing, low-energy politico.

Steve Hilton has brought a sense of urgency to the campaign. 

He reminds us that we don’t have to accept the status quo.

His policies deserve our vote.

Cancel high-speed rail. Eliminate income taxes for the first $150,000.

End “cap-and-invest” and the war on fossil fuels. Lower the gas tax.

Move homeless people off the street and into treatment — not into “free” housing without conditions.

Cut the brush on state lands. Build reservoirs. Let people build the single-family homes they want — not just crowded high-rises.

Focus on the basics in education. Protect girls’ sports. Enforce the law against criminals.

All of that is common sense. That’s the change Californians want.

Not the upheaval offered by socialists like Nithya Raman, who is radical, inexperienced, and lacking in common sense.

She’s running to deliver LA to the extreme left.

She has even promised to fire the LAPD chief, which past chiefs say would be a disaster for the city, especially before the Olympics.

Mayor Karen Bass has many flaws, but she is learning from her mistakes. She is cutting red tape for wildfire victims, for example.

She is far better than a radical alternative that wants to fire cops and protect homeless encampments.

San Francisco has set an example of progress — by moving to the center, not the far-left.

We must back candidates who stand for that pragmatic change.

There are also 14 ballot initiatives — and two stand out.

Proposition 39, the Voter ID initiative, would restore trust in our elections. That’s a “yes.”

Proposition 40, the “billionaire tax,” would chase entrepreneurs out of the state. That’s a “no.”

We won’t change everything in one election. 

But we can take steps in the right direction by embracing common-sense, pragmatic change — and rejecting the politics of radicalism and division.