Steve Hilton vows to abolish California DMV if elected governor

Republican calls department of motor vehicles a ‘bloated bureaucracy’ as he seeks to boost his longshot campaign

The longshot California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton pledged this week to abolish the state’s department of motor vehicles if he is elected, promising to shutter the oft-criticized department for good and set a flat $73 annual registration fee per car.

Hilton, a Trump-backed former conservative pundit running in reliably blue California, called the state’s DMV a “bloated bureaucracy”, during a Tuesday campaign event, echoing the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce.

“The plan for buildings like this is to turn them into something that’s actually useful for California,” he said, standing in front of the DMV in West Hollywood. “We’re going to turn DMV offices into after-school clubs.”

A California DMV spokesperson declined to comment on Hilton’s remarks.

For many US motorists, updating their license at the DMV can be a herculean feat with lengthy wait times. And vehicle registration fees, which California motorists must pay annually, are steep: typically several hundred dollars a year.

However, it is unlikely the state’s DMV could be abolished. The California legislature, in which Democrats hold a supermajority in both the state assembly and senate, would need to pass Hilton’s proposed legislation.

Hilton also faces an uphill battle in the gubernatorial race. A Republican has not been elected to a statewide position in 20 years, and Hilton is trailing well behind his Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra, in recent polls.

In a news release expanding on the idea, Hilton took aim at the cost of running the state’s offices – the legislature allocated $1.46bn to the DMV for the 2025-2026 fiscal year – and the fees drivers pay for services at the DMV.

He proposed transferring some functions of the DMV online and punting routine car title and plate transactions to local county offices.

Becerra’s campaign, meanwhile, suggested his proposal would risk driver safety.

“Nothing says ‘safer roads’ like outsourcing driver safety checks to the lowest bidder,” spokesperson Jonathan Underland said in a statement.