California Republican Candidate Claims $250 Billion in State Fraud, Targets Cannabis Tax Misuse

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Saturday, February 14, 2026

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said his campaign-aligned watchdog group has identified “hundreds of millions of dollars” in taxpayer fraud in the state and estimated a total of $250 billion in fraud across California.

Hilton stated that “the worst in the nation, the biggest fraud is going on right here in California,” adding that “we’re just getting started.”

The candidate noted that federal and state-level scrutiny has accelerated recently, with his campaign launching “Cal DOGE, the California Department of Government Efficiency” to root out fraud.

“We published our first fraud report,” Hilton said.

“We found this just in a matter of days, going through the budget: $370 million stolen from the cannabis tax, which was supposed to be used for substance abuse prevention, actually being siphoned off to Democrat activist causes like voter registration and pushing narratives that help them politically,” he explained.

Hilton described the situation as “a slush fund for Democrat politics.” He said his group has “referred that for prosecution” and vowed, “We’re going to uncover all of it.”

When asked how he would stop fraud if elected governor, Hilton said he is running with proposed running mates for state comptroller and attorney general.

“The comptroller has the power to audit every single organization receiving state money, and then to turn off the money flow where there’s fraud and corruption,” he stated.

“He’s going to prosecute the fraud, and we’re going to get the money back,” Hilton added.

Hilton concluded: “The big point about all of this is that when we find and stop the fraud, that’s how we reduce spending, which is how we cut taxes. That’s what I’m going to do as governor of California.”