Hilton

Gloria Romero, a former Democrat and state Senate Majority Leader, announced Monday she is running for lieutenant governor as part of a ticket with GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator.

“At the end of the day, it’s really about one-party rule in Sacramento. I’ve seen it. I left it,” Romero said in an interview. “We’ve got to make a change, otherwise we will never turn around on accountability or affordability and fight for working families like the Democrats once said the party stood for. Those days are gone. It’s a new day, and I’m proud to work alongside Steve in this exciting race to make California Golden again.”

Hilton, who has a long-standing political relationship with Romero, said her expertise in the state Capitol is among the reasons he selected her. Romero served in the state Senate and Assembly for about 12 years, including three as the state Senate’s first female majority leader.

“She’s been incredibly helpful already, helping me understand how Sacramento works and doesn’t work,” Hilton said. “When I’m the governor I will have to work with the legislature. And one of the most important things that I see as a real benefit from having Gloria there with me is that she’s not just been in the legislature, she’s led one of the chambers. She really understands how it works and still has relationships.”

Other candidates running for lieutenant governor include Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs and Josh Fryday, a member of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s cabinet, all Democrats, and state Sen. Brian Jones (R-Santee).

Romero was a lifelong Democrat, including co-chairing President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign in California. But she began to break with her party over education reform, notably her support for school choice.

“Education is the key to the American dream, and yet my party was so beholden to the teachers union, the alphabet soup of power influencers in Sacramento,” she said.

Invoking the words of the late President Reagan, Romero said she didn’t leave the Democratic party, the party left her. She became a registered Republican in September 2024 after what she calls a “political coup” to oust President Biden as the Democratic nominee. She then endorsed President Trump and spoke at a rally supporting him near Coachella.

She said the lieutenant governor’s role is typically a sleepy perch for politicians as they bide their time to run for higher office.

“It should not be that way,” Romero said, adding that the lieutenant governor’s role on the boards that oversee the UCs, Cal States and community college is a particularly good fit for her wheelhouse. “Education and turning around education, it’s in my blood, it’s in my dreams. It’s my passion.”

Unlike presidential elections, statewide contests do not feature running mates; each candidate must be elected on their own merits.

Hilton said Romero was the first member of his “golden ticket for California” and that he planned to roll out other statewide candidates who will join their effort.

“I know it hasn’t been done before. It’s not how things are normally done,” he said. “But right from the beginning, when I was thinking about my race for governor, one of the things that I really wanted to do was to put together a strong team, because turning around California is going to take a strong team.”

PARIS Hilton has been spotted wearing a disguise while on rides at Disneyland with her family, and she almost went completely unnoticed.

The Simple Life alum swapped her signature platinum blonde hairstyle for a brunette wig to keep her identity under wraps.

However, Paris, 44, didn’t have everybody fooled, as photos circulated of the DJ donning the getup on Sunday at the Anaheim, California, theme park.

They captured the socialite snapping photos of herself on the carousel and on other kiddie rides with her two kids: a son, Pheonix, who turns three in January, and her 2-year-old daughter, London.

She paired her new hairdo with dark blue jeans, a long-sleeved black Mickey Mouse sweater, a black hat, and thick, black-framed glasses.

Paris’s sister, Nicky Hilton, 42, joined them for the outing, along with her little ones, although she didn’t attempt to hide from the crowd, even sporting Minnie Mouse ears while taking pictures on the rides.

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Hours earlier, Paris shared a sweet video of her two kids, whom she shares with her husband, Carter Reum, smiling in front of a massive Christmas tree, decorated with silver and pink ornaments.

The youngsters wore matching light gray pajamas with Santa’s face for the photoshoot, during which Phoenix adorably sat on his little sister’s lap.

Paris gushed over the duo’s adorable bond and called them “besties for life,” while recalling her close relationship with her siblings.

“Watching Phoenix and London grow up side by side is the greatest gift. Best friends from the very beginning. There’s nothing like having a sibling to laugh with, learn with, and always feel understood by,” her caption began.

“Growing up with siblings shaped my whole heart, and I’m so grateful they get to have that same bond. I love my forever built-in bestie @NickyHilton for showing me just how special that kind of love can be,” the This Is Paris author added.

Paris also has two brothers, Barron Hilton II, 36, and Conrad Hilton, 31.

Despite the TV star’s tight bond with her family, which includes Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kathy Hilton, she kept them all in the dark about the birth of her eldest child until a week after he was born.

Paris welcomed her son via surrogate in 2023 but kept the news private out of concern it would leak.

“Not even my mom, my sisters, my best friend knew until he was over a week old,” the reality star confessed on her This Is Paris podcast.

“It was really nice to have that with Carter, be our own journey together. I just feel like my life has been so public, and I’ve never really had anything be just mine,” Paris continued.

“So, when we were talking about it, I really felt that I wanted this journey to be for us only.”

She also said she and Carter “made a pact” to keep the pregnancy a secret, and they followed through on it.

Paris and Carter began dating in November 2019 after reconnecting at a Thanksgiving dinner with mutual friends.

They had known each other for 15 years before that, but it wasn’t until their first date that their romance blossomed.