Overview: Riverside County’s Constitutional Sheriff, Chad Bianco, is running for governor of California, despite his controversial history and questionable policies. Bianco has been criticized for his tough-on-crime stance, which targets Black people disproportionately, and his support for Donald Trump, who has been found guilty of multiple felonies. Bianco’s campaign is seen as a continuation of his partisan blathering on Fox News, which has garnered him national attention and the support of the Republican Party. However, many are skeptical of Bianco’s ability to win a statewide election and question his suitability for the role.
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Many were not surprised to learn that Riverside County’s Constitutional Sheriff, Chad Bianco, was entering the 2026 race for governor of California.
Afterall, Bianco has left a trail of dots for folks to connect regarding his ambition that some believe actually began with his bombastic resistance to CA Governor Gavin Newsom during the COVID-19 crisis.
This, coupled with Bianco’s continuing partisan blathering on Fox News that garnered him national attention and made him a media darling of the Republican Party, must certainly have caught the attention of his hero, Donald J. Trump.
Some might even go so far as to describe Bianco as one of Trump’s “many-mini-me’s” (no reference to Bianco’s height, of course). Bianco can’t seem to find enough opportunities to express his support for the man. In addition, although Bianco is constantly championing his own tough on crime bonafides, he obviously doesn’t think ‘being tough on crime” should be applied to his guy, the Trumpster. He is always blowing his horn for, and singing the praises of the president who was found guilty of multiple felonious acts.
When it comes to crime as it related to his privileged idol during the 2024 Presidential Campaign, Bianco saw felony convictions as something funny–a joke. He even went so far as to post on Instagram, “I think it’s time we put a felon in the White House.” Despite claims that it was “tongue in cheek,” joking about electing a felon president was no joking matter for those of us who believe that no one is above the law.
I guess for Trump’s sake, it’s a good thing he isn’t Black, because he would certainly not have the support of the tough-on-Black-crime Sheriff, Chad Bianco. I say this because the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD), led by Bianco, has proven it perceives Black people as criminals more often than others. A 2023 assessment by the ACLU based on 2019 data from the Racial & Identity Profiling Act, noted, “The Riverside Sheriff’s Department wastes millions of dollars harassing county residents—especially Black people—via deputy-initiated traffic stops.”
Just imagine if Bianco were given the keys to the state house? Although he professes to be tough on crime it is obvious that he has blinders on as it relates to the criminal activity of some . . . like Trump and all his minions associated with the January 6, 2020, insurrection. But, when it comes to Black folks, Bianco feels his team is fully justified in stopping innocent Black people on mere suspicion.
“The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.”
Adlai Stevenson
Yes, Bianco claims to be tough on crime but as noted by Eva Bitran, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. “Contrary to the popular narrative that law enforcement keeps communities safe from violent crime, RCSD overwhelmingly targets community members on suspicion of, at most, traffic violations or infractions and misdemeanors.”
Bianco’s team stops a lot of Blacks on suspicion and yet, “less than one percent of people stopped for traffic violations in Riverside County are arrested.”
Why is Bianco, based on the performance of his deputies, so suspicious of Black people as potential criminals, while he celebrates the criminal antics of the felon in chief, Trump? It is laughable to think that Bianco actually accuses Democrats of coddling criminals.
This alone should provide some perspective on Bianco’s good ole boy attitude toward people of color.
Meanwhile, being elected to high office as a convicted felon worked out so well for Trump, it may be why Bianco obviously has no concern about running for governor even as the Riverside Sheriff’s Department he oversees remains under a Civil Rights patterns and practices investigation by CA State Attorney General Rob Bonta. As many of you may recall, Bonta is seeking to determine whether the sheriff’s office–under Bianco’s leadership–has engaged in a pattern and/or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing.
With the financial heft of the Republican Party behind him; the support of police unions beside him; the Riverside Sheriffs Association holding his hand; and FOX News providing near unending campaign access to their audiences, Bianco has probably already measured the drapes in the governor’s office.
Bianco is also hoping to leverage the successful passage of Prop 36 by voters last year which authorized felony charges and increased sentences for certain theft and drug crimes, to his advantage. The passage of this proposition was a stunning example of California’s schizophrenic relationship with criminal justice.
Bianco gave the proposition his full-throated support and is taking a lot of credit for its successful passage, while criticizing those who opposed it.
Bianco, like Trump, knows that there are a lot of low information voters who cast ballots in every election. This usually makes it easy for those with enough money to spread false and/or misleading information about important ballot issues. In truth, Prop 36 was a red herring.
All the fear mongering Bianco propagated was a clear violation of public trust–but, none of that seems to matter in the age of Trump. Despite Bianco’s heated rhetoric, crime in California in 2023, actually decreased in relation to both homicides and rapes by 13.7% and 3.0%, respectively. While there were nominal increases in thefts (3.8%) and aggravated assaults (1.7%), and while crimes in these areas have shown a slight up-tick since 2021, they were still lower than crime levels previous to the COVID-19 pandemic. In truth, robberies remain 3.1% below pre-pandemic levels.
Many in the community are saying, “Slow your roll, Chad.”
Since Bianco took office the community has watched as he let inmates die on his watch–it took a court order for him to implement the mandates required to protect them during COVID and since then the number of deaths in his jails have continued to rise. The community watched as he fought against other protections implemented by Governor Newsom to keep local residents safe during the pandemic. We witnessed how he “carried water” for Presidential candidate Donald Trump by falsely claiming his deputies stopped an assassination attempt on Trump’s life; and how he took boastful credit for the passage of Prop. 36, while knowing full well the fear mongering he did about rising crime was unsupported and intentionally misleading.
Although Bianco was twice elected sheriff, to his good fortune, those elections happened in off-cycle election years amid low voter turnout. It is doubtful he will have such success in a statewide election in 2026. In addition, his term as sheriff was extended for two years to 2028, by the state to get sheriff election cycles in both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties aligned with presidential elections. As a result, when he loses his bid for governor in 2026, the county will still be stuck with him as sheriff until 2028.
Just as Bianco’s idol, Donald Trump, is wrong for America. Chad Bianco is wrong for California.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.