An endorsement from Donald Trump is usually an enormous gift to any Republican candidate. But the 47th president’s “COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT” of California gubernatorial aspirant Steve Hilton on Truth Social late Sunday night was a mixed blessing. It will almost certainly help consolidate the GOP vote behind the former British Tory political operative and Fox News gabber and thus improve his chances of winning one of two spots in the general election that will be awarded by California voters in the June 3 nonpartisan top-two primary. But that same consolidation of voters will very likely demolish the only realistic chance for Hilton to become governor. Trump’s endorsement has probably ruined the possibility of a Republican “lockout” in which both Hilton and his GOP rival, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, are the two candidates in the November general election.

That lockout scenario has haunted Democrats throughout the low-intensity contest to choose a successor to term-limited incumbent Gavin........

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