我在2017年至2020年5月期间住在洛杉矶，当时正值洛杉矶封锁两个月后，到了最后，我几乎认不出它了。我因这座城市的活力和机遇而搬来，但它开始变得像葛咸城。帐篷城遍布洛杉矶。入室盗窃和暴力犯罪不断攀升。当新冠疫情来临时，治理加州的人似乎对管束海滩上的口罩远比管束街道更有兴趣。因此，我去了迈阿密，因为佛罗里达州共和党州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯以理智治理他的州。
I lived in Los Angeles from 2017 until May 2020, two months into the LA shutdown, and by the end I barely recognized it. The city I had moved to for its energy and opportunity was starting to look like Gotham City. Tent cities spread across Los Angeles. Break-ins and violent crime climbed. When COVID-19 arrived, the people running California seemed far more interested in policing masks on the beach than policing the streets. So, I left for Miami because Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis governed his state with sanity.
我很幸运。我能够离开。数百万加州人却不能，他们也不应该被迫离开。
I was blessed. I could leave. Millions of Californians can't, and they shouldn't have to.
六年过去了，加州共和党州长候选人史蒂夫·希尔顿正给加州人一个留下的理由。
Six years later, California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is giving Californians a reason to stay.
对于太多的加州公民来说，曾经伟大的州已经变成了一个人间地狱。工薪家庭支付着全美最高的汽油价格之一，这种情况已经持续了十多年，同时还要承担任何地方都数一数二的高昂住房成本。小企业在各种费用和监管中苦苦挣扎。在一个曾经吸引世界各地人们的州里，无家可归者营地、公开吸毒和犯罪已经司空见惯。在萨克拉门托经历了16年的一党专政之后，加州人理应提出一个简单的问题：结果是什么？不幸的是，这是一个走向衰落的州。
What was once a great state has turned into a hellhole for too many of its own citizens. Working families pay some of the highest gas prices in America, and have for over a decade, along with some of the highest housing costs anywhere. Small businesses are drowning in fees and regulation. Homeless encampments, open drug use and crime have become normal in a state that used to draw people from around the world. After 16 years of one-party rule in Sacramento, Californians deserve to ask a simple question: What are the results? Unfortunately, a state in decline.
希尔顿一次又一次地证明，他是选民应当托付、接替民主党人加文·纽森担任加州州长的人选。我必须承认，他对候选人身份的诠释给我留下了深刻印象。我和史蒂夫相识于我们在福克斯新闻共事的日子。即便在当时，他也不对有线电视新闻的争吵感兴趣。他想要讨论解决方案，而这正是他现在所成为的候选人。
Hilton has proven over and over again that he is the person voters should entrust to succeed Democrat Gavin Newsom as governor of California. I must admit, I am impressed by what he has done as a candidate. I've known Steve since our days together at Fox News. Even then, he wasn't interested in cable-news shouting matches. He wanted to talk about solutions, and that's exactly the candidate he has become.
看看他所开展的竞选活动就知道了。它是专注且切中实质的。在一个太多候选人靠口号和委屈竞选的时代，希尔顿把切实的计划摆在了桌面上。他不希望加州人赚取的前15万美元收入缴纳州所得税。他有一个计划，通过取消州汽油税、废除低碳燃料标准以及在国内生产更多石油，将汽油价格降至每加仑3美元。
Just look at the campaign he's run. It has been focused and substantive. In an era when too many candidates run on slogans and grievance, Hilton has put real plans on the table. He wants no state income tax on the first $150,000 a Californian earns. He has a plan to get gas to $3 a gallon by eliminating the state gas tax, repealing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and producing more of our own oil here at home.
在住房方面，他将简化建筑规范，并遏制根据《加州环境质量法》提起的诉讼，这些诉讼历来被用来阻挠住房的建设。
On housing, he would streamline building codes and rein in the lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act that are routinely used to stop housing from ever getting built.
你可以不同意其中任何一个想法。但你不能说他对待这些问题没有表现出严肃认真的态度。
You can disagree with any one of those ideas. But you can't say he hasn't approached the issues with gravitas.
最重要的是，他比他的对手工作更努力。自6月份初选以来，希尔顿一直在加州各地进行竞选活动，而民主党人、总统乔·拜登手下的前卫生与公众服务部长泽维尔·贝塞拉则保持低调，仿佛他不需要为每一张选票而竞争。本月《洛杉矶时报》举办候选人论坛时，希尔顿出席并回答了关于无家可归、住房和气候等尖锐问题。贝塞拉没有出席。
On top of that, he's outworked his opponent. Since the June primary, Hilton has campaigned all over California, while Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former Health and Human Services secretary under President Joe Biden, has kept a low profile as if he doesn't have to compete for every vote. When the Los Angeles Times hosted a candidate forum this month, Hilton showed up and answered tough questions on homelessness, housing and climate. Becerra didn't attend.
公共安全是我为之奉献一生的工作。作为公共安全考德威尔研究所的创始人，我为受害者以及当领导者拒绝执法而被抛弃的社区而战。正是这项工作，让我个人支持史蒂夫·希尔顿的竞选，也让我相信他是加州的正解。
Public safety is the work I've given my life to. As founder of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, I fight for victims and for communities left behind when leaders refuse to enforce the law. That work is exactly why I personally support Steve Hilton's candidacy, and why I believe he is the right choice for California.
希尔顿明确表示，加州的犯罪已经失控，缺乏惩罚机制让警官和居民都士气低落。他呼吁采取更严厉的方法打击犯罪并加强对执法部门的支持。在无家可归问题上，他将执法清除街头营地，同时扩大精神健康和成瘾治疗，这样人们就能真正得到帮助，而不是被遗弃在人行道上。
Hilton has said plainly that crime in California is out of control and that a lack of consequences has demoralized police officers and residents alike. He is calling for a tougher approach to crime and stronger support for law enforcement. On homelessness, he would enforce the law against street encampments while expanding mental health and addiction treatment, so people actually get help instead of being left on the sidewalk.
他还赢得了优洛县地方检察官杰夫·赖西格的支持，后者是第36号提案的构想者，这项严厉打击犯罪的法案得到了近70%加州选民的通过，旨在恢复对累犯盗窃和毒品犯罪的惩罚。萨克拉门托多年来对此视而不见。希尔顿不会。
And he has earned the endorsement of Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, the architect of Proposition 36, the tough-on-crime measure that nearly 70% of California voters passed to restore consequences for repeat theft and drug crimes. Sacramento has looked the other way on this for years. Hilton won't.
加州的问题不分红蓝。当你支付每加仑六美元的油价时，没人会问你是民主党人还是共和党人。对于被挤出经济适用房市场的年轻家庭，或者对萨克拉门托的规则感到绝望的小企业主来说，情况也是如此。
California's problems aren't red or blue. When you're paying six bucks a gallon, nobody's asking whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. Same goes for a young family priced out of a starter home, or a small business owner who gave up on Sacramento's rules.
由于他的背景，希尔顿比大多数人更能理解这一点。他的父母是从匈牙利逃出来的共产主义难民。他深知当政府膨胀到不再为人民服务反而开始统治人民时会是什么样子。在萨克拉门托对人们驾驶什么、被允许建造什么以及必须为此支付多少费用指手画脚了十五年之后，这种视角正是加州所需要的。
Hilton understands this better than most because of where he comes from. His parents fled communism in Hungary. He knows what it looks like when government grows so large that it stops serving the people and starts ruling them. That perspective is exactly what California needs after a decade and a half of Sacramento telling people what to drive, what they're allowed to build and how much more they'll have to pay for it.
当选民准备好迎接改变时，加州以前也选出过共和党州长，从罗纳德·里根到阿诺德·施瓦辛格。民调显示希尔顿处于劣势。但我见过的选举已经足够多，知道投票的不是民调，而是人。
California has elected Republican governors before, from Ronald Reagan to Arnold Schwarzenegger, when voters were ready for a change. The polls say Hilton is the underdog. But I've seen enough elections to know the polls don't vote. People do.
我在2020年离开加州，因为我不相信官员们会改变方针。史蒂夫·希尔顿给了我一个理由，让我相信金州能够再次闪耀。11月3日星期二，加州人面临着真正的抉择。我希望他们让这一票充满价值。
I left California in 2020 because I didn't believe officials would ever change course. Steve Hilton has given me a reason to believe the Golden State can shine again. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Californians have a real choice. I hope they make it count.