As Governor Gavin Newsom wraps up his second term as California’s governor, a packed field of candidates has set their eyes on the state’s top executive seat. In a race that carries immense implications for power and influence, not just in California but nationwide, candidates must prove they are ready to reshape the future of one of America’s most-watched states.
In this column, I aim not only to examine the candidates running but to unpack their campaigns and policies, offering a holistic assessment of their ability to govern the Golden State. This installment focuses on Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco’s campaign.
“He addresses day-to-day living and day-to-day activities. Those are the kind of things that are going to garner him the votes,” said Dirk Voss in an interview with the HPR, Desert Hot Springs Mayor Pro Tem and endorser of Chad Bianco’s gubernatorial campaign.
Voss’ observation captures the core of Bianco’s campaign message, which centers on practical, everyday concerns. This focus fits with Bianco’s identity as a long-time law enforcement officer and community figure. Having spent more than three decades serving in the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, eventually being elected sheriff in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, Bianco’s campaign strongly aligns with community safety values, including support for law enforcement and stricter immigration law. He presents himself as a Republican candidate who is “a proven leader for a safer, stronger California.” Yet, while his experience in community safety is clear, it raises the question of whether that expertise can translate to governing a state as vast and complex as California.
According to his campaign website, Bianco has made it clear that “Sacramento” has gone “soft” on crime. Continuing the rigidity of Proposition 36 — which allows felony charges and increases sentences for certain drug and theft charges — Bianco aims to put safety first by investing more into law enforcement resources, providing more training and retention programs for officers, and bolstering legal aid and mental health services for crime victims.
In an interview with the HPR, Bianco framed this shift in priorities as a response to what he sees as a mismanagement of government spending, criticizing what he referred to as “pet projects” and “environmental projects that are truly destroying the state.”
California’s leadership has spent considerable time and political capital on priorities such as healthcare and climate policy — allocating roughly $405 billion to healthcare and nearly $40 billion to climate initiatives. At the same time, the state has spent around $24 billion on homelessness programs since 2019, even as homelessness has continued to rise. Compare this with spending on public safety efforts, which have received roughly $14.9 billion. These disparities have raised questions about whether enough attention has been devoted to addressing public safety concerns in major cities.
In this way, many support Bianco’s initiative to create a safer California. Officer Clint Walton of the San Bernardino Police Officers Association told the HPR in an interview that with a candidate like Bianco, he is hopeful for a future where “you don’t have to walk — worry about going down to a city like Los Angeles or San Francisco — and worry about getting mugged, or worry about the homeless person trying to sell you drugs.”
As a resident of California, I understand the appeal of harsher public safety measures. Still, they raise questions about whether enforcement-heavy approaches alone will be able to deliver the sense of security many Californians are hoping for.
Bianco’s focus on public safety also extends to immigration enforcement, another pillar of his campaign platform. He aims to abolish sanctuary state policies and prioritize the deportation of violent criminals from prison systems. In an interview with the HPR, he argued that “the only reason that ICE is out in our communities” is because sanctuary state policies prevent federal authorities from removing undocumented immigrants directly from prisons and jails — something he said is not an issue in states without sanctuary laws.
In abolishing sanctuary state policies, Bianco aims to create a safer community. This reform appeals to many in the community, including Voss, who told the HPR that “people voted for a strong border,” and for “undocumented immigrants that are in prison to be deported.” However, California does not allow federal agents to remove those individuals from state or county facilities. At the same time, Voss acknowledges the struggle and fear of many Latine people in his community, which has caused a “40% absenteeism rate” in schools, as some parents are afraid to drive their children there.
Bianco has affirmed that he would work with the federal government to make it easier for “law-abiding immigrant workers to enter the workforce.” Still, increased enforcement raises concerns. Cases like that of Elmina Aghayeva — a Columbia student detained by ICE after agents allegedly misrepresented themselves — highlight how broader crackdowns can have dangerous effects, as stricter policies can lead to racial profiling, separation of families, and limited access to legal representation for those unable to afford it. As Voss himself had noted, regardless of intent, these harsher tactics invite fear into communities. The question, then, is whether enforcement-heavy immigration policies can strengthen communities without furthering division.
For Bianco, the answer lies in transparency and strict enforcement of immigration law. In his interview with the HPR, he argued that people in the country without legal status ought to expect deportation if caught. With this he emphasizes that entering and/or remaining in the U.S. illegally is “against the law.” He also suggested that politicians who imply otherwise are misleading the public, stating that there has “never been a time where someone shouldn’t have been afraid of being deported if they were never in this country illegally.” For him, being more direct about enforcement translates to what he views as a more honest conversation about immigration in California.
Immigration policy is not only a question of safety — it is also interconnected with California’s labor force and economic stability. When I interviewed Officer Walton, he discussed concerns with the high cost of living in the state, noting how even law enforcement struggles to afford homes. He expressed hope that a candidate like Bianco would address these issues.
As he pledges to cut taxes on working families and businesses as well as lower the prices of gas and utilities, Bianco’s platform appears to be aimed at lifting the middle class back to economic stability. Yet, for a state as large and economically complex as California, this may not be so easily achieved.
As Sheriff and the head of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, he manages a department of over 4000 employees and a budget of a little over a billion dollars. With this, he has demonstrated an ability to both lead people and oversee funds, experience that may translate into the leadership of nearly 40 million residents. In an interview with the HPR, he asserted that his background makes him “the only person that you have a chance of voting for that has a proven history of going into the next position, of running this state, and fixing everything that is broken.”
However, questions about his record remain. In 2025, the Riverside sheriff deputies cleared an average of only 9.2% of Part 1 crimes, ranking last among every other county in California, even Los Angeles County. When I asked about this fact reported from the California Department of Justice, Bianco dismissed the statistic as “an absolute lie being spread by Democrat politicians in California who run our DOJ.” He argued that his department actually ranked sixth in the state and suggested differences in reporting technology could make the data misleading.
While Bianco disputes the statistics, the competing claims between him and the DOJ raise questions about how his leadership record should be interpreted. If Bianco’s leadership and public safety policies at the county level have faced challenges, voters should be concerned with the viability of his policies at the state level. Running a sheriff’s office is one thing, but running a state like California is something else entirely.
Still, despite these concerns about his record, Bianco stands out as a candidate who brings more to the table than simple opposition to Trump. Unlike Democrats in the race, Bianco is not building his campaign with the promise to fight the president. While this may stem from his confidence in the strength of his policies, it may also be due to his support of the president, whom he endorsed in 2024, on social media. He posted a video stating his support for having “a felon in the White House,” and defended his stance to the HPR, saying, “I’m not going to allow an absolute failure of a Democrat agenda to make anyone believe that President Trump has done anything to harm California.”
Given President Trump’s low approval among Californians, this affiliation could pose a challenge for Bianco in the primary. Bianco has also faced controversy for admitting to having briefly belonged to the extremist Oath Keepers Militia, a group that was later indicted in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In his confession, he simultaneously downplayed his association with the group while defending their motivations.
While controversial for his far-right stances on policy issues, there can be benefits to having a Republican governor. In California, nearly all the current executive officers are Democrats, which, as Voss stated to the HPR, can become a problem if too many policy decisions are being made without opposition. As California has not had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011, some voters may feel it is time for a political shift, especially as Democratic victories in recent gubernatorial races have been narrower than in previous years. Whether that would help to address some of the state’s current challenges or increase party divisions in California is ultimately for voters to decide.
With local endorsements like Voss and Walton and a supportive community base, Bianco presents himself as a candidate who wants to take his experience in law enforcement and expand it to the state level. As he told the HPR, “I am going to win this campaign, not for a political party, not for an agenda, only for Californians.”
Whether that experience can translate into leading a state as large and influential as California, however, remains an open question. As the race continues, voters will have to weigh the promise of safer communities with the broader political and economic challenges of running California.
