California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is proposing a dramatic conclusion to the state’s troubled high-speed rail project: converting the multibillion-dollar venture into a monument commemorating government failure.
The Republican’s AI-generated campaign advertisement centers on his promise to “cancel High Speed Rail, turn it into the Government Failures National Monument.” The spot presents sharply contrasting visions of California depending on who becomes governor.
Hilton’s ad depicts a sunny, prosperous California under his leadership, then contrasts it with a frozen, dystopian state under Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra. In that hypothetical scenario, it blames Becerra for surging gas prices, struggling businesses and deteriorating conditions on Skid Row.
The advertisement begins by imagining California two years into a Hilton administration, describing the rail project as a “failed promise.” Its opening images show Skid Row transformed into an upscale destination resembling Rodeo Drive, complete with cherry blossoms and fine-dining establishments.
Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is portrayed as crowded with shoppers, while gas prices have dropped to $3 a gallon and families have resumed traveling by car.
As the narrator describes canceling the rail project and converting it into a national monument, the ad declares: “Visitors come from around the world to see the most expensive piece of concrete in human history.”
The upbeat scenes then shift to Hilton’s portrayal of California under Becerra. The ad claims gas prices would reach $8 a gallon, making it difficult for families to afford driving.
The campaign’s bright imagery turns dark and wintry, showing an apparently empty Third Street Promenade and a deepening public health crisis on Skid Row. The narrator alleges that typhoid and rat infestations have overwhelmed emergency responders.
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The spot further claims Becerra would raise taxes and direct an additional $200 billion toward the rail project, mocking it as a “railroad to nowhere.”
In the closing sequence, sunlight returns to the bleak setting as 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 advertisement takes aim at one of California’s costliest and most politically divisive infrastructure projects.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s draft 2026 business plan estimates that completing the first phase of the 494-mile route connecting San Francisco with Los Angeles and Anaheim could cost about $231.3 billion under a full-buildout scenario. A revised plan puts the projected cost at approximately $126.2 billion.
Voters approved the project in 2008, when its estimated cost was $33 billion and its completion target was 2020. Construction and financing difficulties have since led to repeated changes in both its projected price and schedule.
Hilton has pledged to abandon the project altogether. Becerra, according to KPBS, has said he would discard its current configuration but has provided fewer specifics about his alternative plans for the rail system.
The candidates are vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Nov. 3 election, where affordability, homelessness and the future of California’s government spending have emerged as central campaign issues.