Bianco and Hilton are competing against eight heavyweight Democrats who are splintering their party\u2019s votes in the election to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom. Under California\u2019s unique primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary will move on to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation.<\/p>\n
The prospect has alarmed state Democratic leaders, who unsuccessfully urged struggling candidates to drop out<\/a> to avoid their party being shut out of the November election.<\/p>\n Still, a lot can happen before the June 2 primary to stir up the race. President Trump endorsed Hilton<\/a> late Sunday, which could significantly influence the state\u2019s GOP voters. More than 6 million Californians voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, though he was trounced by Vice President Kamala Harris, one of the state\u2019s top Democrats.<\/p>\n Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, and Kate Monroe, chief executive of VETCOMM, talk with a woman lying on the sidewalk on Skid Row in Los Angeles in January. <\/p>\n (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Bianco and Hilton have frequently raised the prospect of a Republican being elected governor as the result of failed Democratic rule of the nation\u2019s most populous state and the world\u2019s fourth-largest economy.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time in probably our lifetimes, really since Ronald Reagan \u2026 every legitimate poll has either shown me or Steve Hilton at the top two Republicans at the top of [every] statewide poll,\u201d for the last six months, Bianco recently told about 100 attendees at a Valley Unity Republican Women luncheon at the Woodland Hills County Club overlooking verdant fairways.<\/p>\n Hilton, who has participated in more gubernatorial forums and debates than Bianco, said polling that shows him besting Democratic rivals proves that Californians are fed up with 15 years of one-party rule.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell you right now, there is not a single one of them who represents to the slightest degree the change we need in California,\u201d he told a few hundred people at Big Bear\u2019s Calvary Chapel. \u201cWe are going to do it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n From afar, Bianco appears to be out of central casting for a GOP candidate for governor: an armed lawman, with a salt-and-pepper mustache and close-cropped hair who has dedicated his life to protecting the vulnerable and locking up criminals.<\/p>\n Bianco, echoing independent pollsters as well as political strategists in both parties, said having \u201cRiverside County Sheriff\u201d next to his name on the official state ballot will be a major boon to his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI will tell you this, if we took the names and the party off of the ballot and simply went up with resume \u2014 we made you all read a resume of who you\u2019re going to put as your next governor \u2014 I would win this election 100% to nothing,\u201d Bianco told the GOP women\u2019s group.<\/p>\n Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton greets a member of the Big Bear Valley Republican Assembly before speaking at a town hall at Calvary Chapel in Big Bear in March.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n But Bianco\u2019s badge hasn\u2019t shielded him from Hilton\u2019s blistering attacks about the sheriff\u2019s past statements about immigration, pandemic mask mandates and Black Lives Matter protests \u2014 which is disqualifying for some GOP voters.<\/p>\n Bianco opposes \u201csanctuary city\u201d laws, calls for the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants and says the border must be secured. But he has also supported a pathway to citizenship for lawful, working undocumented people and told his constituents that his deputies were not taking part in ICE raids.<\/p>\n In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bianco ordered county residents to wear masks or face punishment, though he later pushed back at Newsom\u2019s stay-at-home orders.<\/p>\n That same year, he and his deputies were photographed kneeling and speaking with protesters in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, an action he has since recast as praying.<\/p>\n Bianco\u2019s wife, Denise, on Thursday accused Hilton of endangering her husband by sending mailers to voters that featured Bianco\u2019s face surrounded by circles that she described as a \u201cbullseye target.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have all watched way too much political violence directed at law enforcement officers in recent years. I never imagined it would come from a political candidate directed at my husband,\u201d she said in an Instagram post. \u201cSteve, why on God\u2019s earth would you think it\u2019s acceptable to put my husband\u2019s face, a dedicated sheriff, on a shooting target?\u201d<\/p>\n Election security has also highlighted differences in the candidates\u2019 views.<\/p>\n Hilton and Bianco echoed Trump\u2019s call to make GOP voter turnout \u201ctoo big to rig.\u201d But their statements about alleged malfeasance differed.<\/p>\n Hilton decried \u201ctotal corruption in the voting system in California.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said for the longest possible time that I don\u2019t understand why we can\u2019t do things the way that most places do it, which is vote on one day, count on one day, get the results on one day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked by a voter about electoral fraud in California in March, Bianco replied that he was confident that law enforcement in California ensures that such fraud is \u201cnot happening here,\u201d while agreeing that such \u201ccheating\u201d occurred in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 2020 election.<\/p>\n But the same month, he seized more than 650,000 ballots<\/a> from the November election as part of an investigation to determine if they were fraudulently counted.<\/p>\n Bianco put the investigation on hold<\/a> shortly before the California Supreme Court halted it pending further review.<\/p>\n California voters have not elected a Republican as governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger won reelection in 2006. Two Republicans on the ballot in the June 2 primary election hope to change that. <\/p>\n (Justin Sullivan \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Hilton has sought to capitalize on these positions, labeling Bianco the \u201cshifty sheriff,\u201d an attack that resonates with some voters.<\/p>\n \u201cThe man lies. The man is not honest about taking a knee to BLM, which is unacceptable,\u201d said Agnes Gibboney, 71, of Rancho Cucamonga. \u201cAnd coming up with three, four different excuses is unacceptable. And then to get mad at the voters for asking the question.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Riverside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775816768_206_.jpeg\")
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