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Pro-Trump Sheriff VS Kamala Harris? First Republican Challenger for CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR RACE

The Sheriff of Riverside County, California has thrown his hat into the ring to replace Gavin Newsom in 2026.

And in so doing, Chad Bianco becomes the first Republican to challenge a potential Kamala Harris campaign for Governor.

While Bianco comes out as a tough-on-crime supporter of President Trump, there may be more to the Sheriff worth examining.

A lot of what Sheriff Bianco has said falls right in line with the common-sense approach to conservative principles that President Trump has so deftly mastered.

He announced his campaign Monday at an event outside of Los Angeles with an emphasis on the economic troubles California has faced at the hands of democratic leadership, according to a report from Fox News:

A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in last year’s election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an 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.

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“As Californians we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address, according to prepared excerpts.

He emphasized that “we want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.”

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. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes.

Sheriff Bianco made the announcement to a crowd of supporters, stating that California has gone down the wrong track.

Here’s a clip showing the moment he announced his candidacy:

In June of 2024, Sheriff Bianco posted a video stating his open support for President Trump’s election campaign.

He touted the “love affair” California democrat leadership has had with criminals, leading to all the same ‘woke’ problems confronting the rest of America as well.

He posted this video, teasing that he was “changing teams” to put a felon in the White House:

Sheriff Bianco’s presence in the race for the Governorship of California could present one of the staunchest challenges to a potential run by Kamala Harris.

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Just four days ago a new poll of California voters revealed that voters prefer Kamala Harris over all other potential Democrats to become the next Governor, according to a Newsweek story:

Former Vice President Kamala Harris holds an early lead among Democratic voters if she chooses to run in the 2026 California gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.

Harris, who has served California as a district attorney, attorney general and in the U.S. Senate, has not made her next moves clear after losing the White House race to President Donald Trump. While some have floated her as possibly making another presidential bid in 2028, others believe she would be a strong candidate to replace Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, who will be term limited after 2026.

An Emerson College poll, conducted among 469 registered voters on February 11, showed Harris with more support than other possible Democratic candidates in the gubernatorial race.

Harris was backed by 57 percent of respondents in the survey, large lead over other potential Democratic contenders. Former Representative Katie Porter placed second in the poll at 9 percent, while former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa received 4 percent.

While the poll reveals possible Democratic support for Harris if she chooses to run and shows other Democrats may have an uphill battle to win over the base against the former vice president, it notably did not include candidates of other parties. California has a nonpartisan primary system for statewide races, so it’s unclear how other voters could change the state of the race.

However, there are issues that even pro-Trump Republicans might not be comfortable with concerning the Sheriff.

For one thing, he has touted being hard on crime, but has even recently pushed back against President Trump’s immigration policy, and ICE raids to deport illegals.

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Just this past month, Bianco posted this to his X account, leading to a YouTube video announcing his position on President Trump’s deportations.

I’ll post the YouTube video below the post:

Besides that, he was at the heart of what many still consider a possible “fake” assassination attempt on President Trump while campaigning last year in California, as The National Pulse reported:

Bianco, who has served as sheriff since 2019, has paid lip service in opposition to California’s sanctuary state policies. In a 2023 Fox 11 interview, he stated that he would work around Senate Bill 54, which stymies law enforcement from engaging in deportations. However, on February 7, 2025, Bianco released a video addressing concerns about immigration enforcement, in which he stated that his deputies “have not, are not and will not engage in any type of immigration enforcement.”

He claimed this responsibility lies solely with federal authorities, and criticized what he described as “misinformation” regarding his department’s role in such operations. This statement came as agencies directed by President Trump reported a sharp rise in arrests in California.

In a separate controversy, Bianco has come under scrutiny regarding the recent arrest of Vem Miller, a pro-Trump independent journalist, near a Trump rally in Coachella Valley.

Miller, a known supporter of former President Donald Trump and founder of the America Happens Network, was detained on weapons charges, with Bianco and his office publicly claiming, with no evidence, that they had stopped a third assassination attempt against President Trump.

In reality, Miller was a gun-owning Trump supporter who simply had his weapons stored in his car, parked in a parking lot, close to the Trump rally that took place in October 2024. Miller has carried firearms due to his receipt of death threats for being a pro-Trump reporter.

Miller dismissed Bianco’s claims that he was associated with anti-government groups. Both the FBI and Secret Service have declined to pursue federal charges against Miller, confirming that they do not consider him a security threat. Miller is now suing over the matter.

There is also the issue of Black Lives Matter, which Sheriff Bianco was very comfortable with.

In the official capacity of Sheriff, he and his deputies joined together with Black Lives Matter protesters in Riverside, stating emphatically that they stood with the organization.

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Black Lives Matter is nothing but a shell organization from which Soros-funded paid protestors could foment civil unrest in the United States to weaken the United States from within.

Sheriff Bianco backed BLM, and I’m not sure most of MAGA is willing to forget it.

Here’s a clip of the protests, including Sheriff Bianco talking to the crowds, and eventually kneeling alongside Black Lives Matter protestors:

Here’s a still screen capture from that video with Sheriff Bianco kneeling alongside BLM, if you didn’t watch the full clip:

While Sheriff Bianco could turn out to be just the man for the job of turning California around, and away from the failed policies of democrats…

It remains to be seen if Trump-Republicans are willing to forgive him for so many questionable positions on some of the most serious issues currently facing America.

But this turn of events is certain to give Kamala Harris a new set of data points to consider as she weighs her next steps.


 

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