‘Of course I’m the underdog’: the British former spin doctor trying to turn California red

‘People are out of the habit of voting Republican. Still, I see a narrow but real path to victory,’ Steve Hilton says. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

Steve Hilton stands almost no chance of becoming California’s next governor, but that isn’t stopping him from campaigning as though he was just one step away from pulling off the impossible.

The former Downing Street political adviser and Fox News host refuses to be daunted by the rancid political environment for Republican candidates this year, or by opinion polls that tell him he is lagging 20 percentage points or more behind his Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra.