LOS ANGELES — Surrounded by sprawling homeless encampments, drug use and trash-strewn sidewalks in the heart of Los Angeles' Skid Row, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted California's homelessness crisis as a "political scandal," accusing Democratic leaders of spending billions in taxpayer dollars while allowing the streets to deteriorate.
"'The homelessness crisis,' as if it's some kind of natural disaster that can't be helped," Hilton told Fox News Digital, referring to how politicians and others describe the conditions as he surveyed the sprawling encampments.
"No, it is not a crisis. It's actually a scandal. It's a political scandal because the people in charge, they've caused this with their policies."
Skid Row, the epicenter of California's homelessness crisis, is facing renewed scrutiny after a sweeping federal drug raid Thursday. The crackdown came as voting gets underway in the Nov. 3 governor's race, with Hilton challenging Democrat Xavier Becerra in a contest where homelessness and billions in taxpayer spending have emerged, yet again, as key campaign issues.
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Fox News Digital observed sprawling homeless encampments, Narcan distribution points, human feces on sidewalks and piles of ash from what people in the neighborhood said were fires lit earlier that morning to keep warm.
Hilton accused years of Democratic leadership of failing to solve California's homelessness problem despite billions in taxpayer spending, while taking aim at government-funded nonprofits and developers he claims have financially benefited from the crisis.
"The real estate developers, and it's a real crony game now, which I've been told about many times," he continued. "We've got a small number of real estate developers who are in on this, and they get all the contracts to build these apartment units for people that don't help them at all, because the other part of it isn't being done in terms of drug addiction or whatever."
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"The point about these non-profits is that they're part of this philosophy, the ideology of harm reduction, all the things we've talked about, which means that they are not actually trying to solve the problem," Hilton said. "Because if they solve the problem, they don't get paid anymore. So they have an incentive to keep it going."
In September, federal prosecutors charged the founder of a Los Angeles-area homelessness nonprofit with wire fraud, alleging he misused taxpayer funds, including nearly $50, 000 for a trip to Tahiti, after receiving more than $118 million in public funding through government contracts.
Federal and local authorities, including the FBI, DEA and LAPD, arrested 23 of 28 defendants charged in a sweeping drug trafficking investigation Thursday, targeting alleged gang-affiliated dealers and independent operators accused of selling fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs in and around Skid Row.
Hilton argued that addressing homelessness begins with enforcing existing laws and removing encampments from California's streets.
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"My plan is very simple. How we get clean streets in California. Number one, enforce the law, get people off the streets," he said.
"Letting people live like this, and not just the people who live like this, but all the people who aren't living like this who have to experience this every single day. The collapse of civilized life in their city," Hilton said. "It's the opposite, it's cruel."
As Hilton walked through Skid Row with Fox News Digital, one woman living on the streets offered a candid admission about her drug use.
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"I like being on drugs, but if I have to quit, then I most definitely will," she told Hilton when he asked whether she wanted to stop using drugs.
The woman, who said she had been living on Skid Row for five years, described moving to Los Angeles from Syracuse, New York, in part because she had heard about California's methadone clinics . She also said a former boyfriend had planned to find housing.
"I heard about the methadone clinics," she explained, saying she wanted access to methadone treatment.
Despite her admission about drug use, the woman said she was considering entering a treatment program in Tarzana, where she had heard patients could stay for a year or longer and receive methadone twice a day.
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Venus, a Skid Row volunteer who helps distribute food, blasted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass over the handling of homelessness, even as Bass joined local law enforcement officials Thursday to announce the results of a sweeping drug crackdown in the neighborhood.
"We all loved her from the beginning, but she lied about the homeless," Venus said, pointing to the conditions surrounding her on Skid Row. "What is going on, Mayor Bass? We voted for you."
Venus later added, "She didn't do her job," and said Bass’ pledge was "getting rid of the homeless. She never did nothing. Nothing, nothing at all. Shame on her."
Hilton also took aim at his Democratic opponent, Becerra , accusing the longtime politician of taking California voters for granted while failing to offer solutions to the state's mounting problems.
"If you can't be bothered to earn people's vote, then you don't deserve people's votes. He's not campaigning. He's backing out of every single debate. I mean, I've never seen anything like it. It's complete contempt for the voters and for California," said Hilton.
Hilton, a former Fox News host, argued that Californians are growing fed up with years of Democratic leadership, pointing to homelessness, high taxes and the soaring cost of living as reasons voters may be ready for a change.
"I know everyone says, well, it's California, Republican can't win. I don't know. I think people are sick of all this," Hilton said. "And they're sick of Becerra just taking them for granted, and I think we can win this election."
On Skid Row, Fox News Digital encountered criticism of Democratic leadership from an unlikely political perspective: a man who described himself as a "patriotic American communist."
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The man, who identified himself as Adrian, said he had moved from Orange County and ended up on Skid Row following a medical incident.
"I'm a patriotic American communist, part of the American Communist Party," Adrian said.
Adrian said he belonged to the American Communist Party, distancing himself from the mainstream Democratic Party.
Asked whether California's leaders were doing enough to address homelessness, Adrian was blunt.
"Oh, definitely not. I have to be honest, I'm a leftist, and so the Democratic Party isn't for me. I'm more left than they are," he said.
Adrian said he had been living on Skid Row for about a year after being evicted from a medical facility, and now volunteers at the Skid Row Care Campus, which he credited with providing therapy, medical services and community activities.
"It gives them better things to do than just do drugs all day," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Becerra's campaign and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office for comment.