Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced that he is jumping into the California gubernatorial race, noting “Californians deserve better” than to be faced with increased crime, high taxes, and “tent encampments in every major city.”
While announcing his campaign for governor of California, Bianco noted how the California dream had been “turned into a nightmare,” and he questioned what the Democrats “have given” people, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The outlet noted that Bianco was first elected to serve as the sheriff in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
“We have to be brutally honest during this campaign, and that includes those in the media. It is only our Democrat elected officials who are responsible for the decline of California. What is it that they have given us?” Bianco questioned. “Rampant crime, higher taxes, the highest cost of living in our nation, tent encampments in every major city, more fentanyl deaths, catastrophic fires, a broken homeowners’ insurance market, and people across our state are struggling to afford groceries and gas. Californians deserve better.”
Bianco, who refused to enforce the stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic because he “trusted” people’s “ability to do the right thing without fear of being arrested,” added that “for decades” the Democratic Party “has tried the same failed ideas” and the “same failed policies.”
“I am running for governor of our beautiful state, which I absolutely love because our head is heading down the wrong track and it has been for years,” Bianco added. “Everyone knows it, except for those sitting in an echo chamber in Sacramento. For decades, the party in complete control of our government has tried the same failed ideas and the same failed policies that haven’t worked.”
Bianco shared how he had moved to the state in 1989 “in search of the California dream,” and went on to get a job, house, and got married and had a family, noting that “destructive policies” and “government overreach and regulation” have made the “California dream” a nightmare.
“Over the past 36 years, I achieved and lived my California dream,” Bianco added. “Unfortunately, for my kids, destructive policies, political agendas, government overreach and regulation, radical activism, and special interests have turned the California dream into a nightmare for millions of Californians.”
After President Donald Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree related to payments made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, Bianco revealed that he would be voting for Trump.
Bianco’s announcement that he is jumping into the race to be the next governor of California comes as a recent survey conducted by Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill showed that former Vice President Kamala Harris was the Democrat front-runner in California’s 2026 gubernatorial race.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s Envoy for Special Missions recently revealed that he would consider jumping into the race for California governor if Harris runs, noting that the Republican candidate might have “a shot.”
