In January 2011, a Republican walked out of the California Governor’s Mansion for the last time in what would turn out to be well over a decade. Bodybuilder turned Hollywood action star turned improbably Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger left office after two terms at the head of the state he moved to as a young man boasting an abysmal 23% approval rating.
Republican Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, had just lost the 2010 gubernatorial election by more than 1.3 million votes to Democrat Jerry Brown, who would serve a third and fourth term as governor after two in the 1970s and 80s.
That landslide result solidified a blue trend for the Golden State, and a Republican hasn’t come close to the top office since.
Now, the sheriff in one of the Republicans’ most reliable counties thinks that 2026 can be a similar moment, but in reverse. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy in the race to be California’s next governor on Monday, promising another “change in direction.”
In an interview with KTLA on Tuesday night, he said a “failing” state government bringing high cost-of-living and concerns over crime have made California a “laughing stock” that voters will want to correct, and that’s why he wants to run for governor.
“The ‘why’ is easy: California is failing,” Bianco said. “California is failing every aspect of our state.”
He told KTLA that the state’s government is the “worst” at every part of governing. Taking a page from the playbook of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, who Bianco campaigned with last year, he criticized the “waste” at the top level of the state.
“Truly, I think the only part they’re good at is wasting money,” he said. “It’s sad that the greatest state in the country has in many places become a laughing stock.”
Among the hot topics in 2026, like in the 2024 presidential election, will be cost of living. Even in the six weeks of 2025 so far, prices on common grocery items, like eggs, and gasoline, have skyrocketed.
Bianco blames rising prices on overregulation
“It’s very easy to see why [essentials are] more expensive than every place in the rest of the country: it’s taxes and overregulation,” he told KTLA. “[Decreasing regulations is] simply just a plain different direction and one that involves common sense and reason into solving our problems and our issues.”
An issue that thrust Bianco into the governor conversation was Prop. 36. The crime initiative, which was passed convincingly by voters in November, lowered the threshold for a misdemeanor theft to become a felony back down to $450 in merchandise, down from $950.
In his upcoming campaign, Bianco says he’ll maintain his “tough on crime” stance, including an emphasis on illegal immigration.
Senate Bill 54, otherwise known as the California Values Act, was passed in 2017, limiting state and local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Speaking to KTLA on Tuesday, Bianco said the law “has done nothing but harm our state.”
“It truly harms our immigrant community because they are the ones most victimized by the criminals that pray on them,” Bianco said. “Then they are afraid to call us because they’ve demonized law enforcement, our government officials have and our politicians, so they don’t report the crime and the victimization happens over and over and over again.”
A 2020 Department of Justice study found that SB 54 had no significant impact on violent crime in California.
Bianco on Tuesday said Californians have been “lied to” about immigration and, if he were to become governor, SB 54 would be significantly reworked and the state would cooperate with ICE to perform deportations.
Of course, with Gov. Gavin Newsom leaving office next year, the competition to take over is likely to be crowded. Some Democrats have already announced their candidacy, like former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, but other names are expected to follow, like former Rep. Katie Porter.
But one name looms the largest, and is already dominating polls, despite a lack of a decision on official candidacy as of February. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is widely viewed as a powerhouse candidate for the job — if she wants it. Recent reports suggest she’s split between two choices: running for governor or “running it back” in a third presidential campaign.
If Bianco were to advance to a general election face-off with Harris, he’s confident that he would be viewed as the more trustworthy candidate as a political outsider with a law enforcement background.
“I welcome the chance of running against former Vice President Kamala Harris,” he said. “She’s already proven that she could not lead this state. In terms of public safety, which that’s the major concern of the state, I would love to go head-to-head with her.”
