First posted on Instagram
On Fox News' "The Big Weekend Show" on Saturday, California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton appeared wearing a face mask of his Democratic rival Xavier Becerra and holding a sign reading "Becerra's Mileage Tax $1,043.01," mock-impersonating Becerra as a politician who would keep raising the charge "up and up and up every mile you drive."
The stunt was the latest turn in a row that began on Thursday, when Becerra, asked by KCRA political director Ashley Zavala whether he would support a mileage-based tax as governor, said "everything should be on the table." Becerra said the state's roads "aren't maintained just by some magic wand," that drivers should pay a gas tax, and that drivers of electric vehicles, who do not buy gas, should also help pay for road repairs.
Hilton seized on the answer the same day. "Now we know that with Xavier Becerra as governor, you'll pay an extra $1,000 a year just for driving your car," he told the California Post. "They never stop gouging you. First, it's the highest gas prices in the country, then the highest car registration fees. Now they want to track you everywhere you drive and charge up to 10 cents a mile," he added. "As governor, I will veto the mileage tax," he said.
Becerra's campaign pushed back on the claim. "Secretary Becerra has not proposed a mileage tax," campaign spokesperson Jonathan Underland said.
California has spent years studying a mileage-based road charge as a possible replacement or supplement for the gas tax, which officials warn will raise less money as more motorists switch to electric and fuel-efficient vehicles. A state pilot that ran from August 2024 through January 2025 enrolled 800 drivers to test ways of reporting mileage. State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio has warned that a charge of 6 to 9 cents per mile, on top of existing gasoline and vehicle taxes, could cost a driver covering 15,000 miles a year between $900 and $1,350.
Hilton has made driving costs a centrepiece of his campaign to succeed term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom, promising to bring gasoline prices down to $3 a gallon and to cap annual vehicle registration fees at $73. Californians vote for governor on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. A University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies/Los Angeles Times poll published on October 30 put Becerra at about 61 percent and Hilton at about 34 percent among likely voters.