California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is proposing a dramatic end to the state’s troubled high-speed rail project, envisioning the multibillion-dollar undertaking as a monument to government failure.
The Republican’s AI-generated campaign ad, built around his proposal to “cancel High Speed Rail, turn it into the Government Failures National Monument,” presents sharply contrasting visions of California depending on who becomes governor.
The spot portrays a prosperous, sun-soaked California under Hilton and a frozen, dystopian version of the state under Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra. It blames Becerra’s hypothetical administration for rising gas prices, struggling businesses and worsening conditions on Skid Row.
The ad begins with an AI-generated depiction of California two years into a hypothetical Hilton administration, labeling the high-speed rail project a “failed promise.” In the opening scenes, Skid Row has been transformed into a luxury destination resembling Rodeo Drive, complete with cherry blossoms and fine-dining establishments.
Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is shown filled with shoppers, while gas prices have dropped to $3 a gallon and families are once again able to travel by car.
The narrator says the rail project has been canceled and converted into a national monument, declaring: “Visitors come from around the world to see the most expensive piece of concrete in human history.”
The idyllic scenes then shift to Hilton’s portrayal of California under Becerra. The ad claims gas prices would rise to $8 a gallon, leaving families struggling to afford driving.
The campaign’s bright imagery suddenly becomes dark and wintry, showing an apparently deserted Third Street Promenade and a worsening public health crisis on Skid Row. The narrator claims typhoid and rat infestations have overwhelmed emergency crews.
The ad also accuses Becerra of raising taxes to direct another $200 billion toward the rail project, which it mocks as a “railroad to nowhere.”
The spot ends with another dramatic reversal as sunlight returns to the bleak landscape and the narrator calls on Californians to support Hilton.
“California’s future is still being written. Vote for Steve Hilton. Just try it,” the voice-over says.
The ad takes aim at one of California’s most expensive and politically divisive infrastructure projects.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s draft 2026 business plan estimated that completing the first phase of the 494-mile line connecting San Francisco with Los Angeles and Anaheim could cost about $231.3 billion under its full-buildout scenario. A revised approach places the projected cost at approximately $126.2 billion.
Voters approved the project in 2008, when it carried an estimated price tag of $33 billion and was expected to be completed by 2020. Construction and funding difficulties have since led to repeated changes in its projected cost and timeline.
Hilton has promised to cancel the project altogether. Becerra, meanwhile, has said he would abandon its current configuration, although he has provided fewer details about his plans for the rail system, according to KPBS.
The candidates are seeking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Nov. 3 election. The contest has placed affordability, homelessness and the future of California’s government spending at the heart of the campaign.
