Supporters of California governor candidates Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton rally at the California Republican Party Convention in San Diego on Saturday. The state party deadlocked on the endorsement Sunday.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — The California Republican Party deadlocked Sunday on whom to endorse for governor as neither candidate received enough support to secure the party’s nod, with the party’s most ardent grassroots supporters rejecting President Donald Trump’s favored candidate and threatening to splinter the party when it is the closest it has been in decades to winning the governor’s mansion.
Neither Fox News commentator Steve Hilton nor Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco received the required 60% support of the 1,101 delegates gathered for the three-day California party convention that ended Sunday.
“We have two amazing candidates,” GOP chair Corrin Rankin said after the votes were tabulated.
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Republican National Committee member Shawn Steel said that receiving the party’s imprimatur “is always important because it’s a way to tip the scales to the state’s 5.8 million Republicans.” The party’s endorsement appears on communications to party members and can sway wobbly or underinformed conservative voters.
Bianco disagreed, saying Sunday the deadlocked vote “didn’t mean anything. I’m not running to get endorsements. I’m running for Californians.”
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Hilton spokesman Hector Barajas countered that “Chad Bianco left (the convention) with nothing, and we have Trump’s endorsement.”
Supporters cheer for California governor candidate Steve Hilton at the state Republican Party Convention in San Diego on Saturday.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
Hilton and Bianco top most polls as Democrats remain stuck in gear with its eight candidates splitting the vote and allegations of sexual misconduct against the top polling Democrat, Rep. Eric Swalwell, becoming an unwanted focus of the campaign just weeks before Californians receive their ballot. California has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
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Sunday’s vote also reflected how little the party’s most devout members thought of Trump’s endorsement this month of Hilton, who is leading most polls.
Bianco supporter Christine LaMarca of San Diego said that while she is MAGA and supports the president, “his endorsement may not be a good thing in California,” where two-thirds of voters oppose him. “It will matter to MAGA people, but not so much to others.”
Republican National Committee member Shawn Steel said that receiving the party’s imprimatur ‘is always important because it’s a way to tip the scales to the state’s 5.8 million Republicans.”
State Sen. Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach (Orange County), a Hilton supporter, said Trump’s endorsement will be more influential “if the Steve HIlton campaign can communicate that to voters.”
Both candidates fought hard for the party’s nod.
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Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a candidate for California governor, speaks Saturday during a forum at the state Republican Party Convention in San Diego.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
In his speech to delegates Saturday, Bianco went hard right. He promised to eliminate the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Commission, the California Air Resources Board and sanctuary city protections for undocumented immigrants.
Bianco said Friday that he voted for Trump three times, but “as much as I love our president, he proved that he makes bad decisions too.”
Bianco’s supporters were vocal throughout the convention, with many sporting cowboy hats. Bianco’s Western-themed party Saturday night featured an area where supporters could take photos with calves.
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Hilton’s convention party didn’t feature any livestock, but the Atherton resident mentioned Trump’s endorsement repeatedly throughout the weekend, saying he hopes that it will unite the party behind him. At a Friday night cigar party, he told attendees that Trump’s “precious gift” won’t just help him, it will help turn out base voters in this year’s midterm elections, when Democrats are expected to pick up seats after voters approved Proposition 50’s redrawn maps.
While the party’s delegates deadlocked on their choice for governor, they endorsed Sonja Shaw for superintendent of public instruction, Stacy Korsgaden for insurance commissioner, Michael Gates for attorney general, Jennifer Hawks for treasurer, and Gloria Romero for lieutenant governor.