A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff in southern California who was a supporter of President Trump in last year’s election will launch a campaign for Golden State governor, a source familiar confirms to Fox News.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is expected to announce his candidacy at a scheduled event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections.
WHAT SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO TOLD FOX NEWS
Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes.
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Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring.
House Speaker Mike Johnson listens to Sheriff Chad Bianco speak during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
When asked late last year in a Fox News interview if he knew of anyone who might be capable of producing change in Sacramento – California’s capital city – Bianco responded, “I might, I might know someone that would go there with nothing but common sense and the betterment of the citizens of California rather than some crazy ideological agenda that truly makes absolutely no sense to any of us.”
The news regarding Bianco was first reported by Politico.
It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026. (California Governor Gavin Newsom YouTube channel)
There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028.
Harris served as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president.
Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday reception in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded.
Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
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Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.
Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.
Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor.
In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.
