{"id":264721,"date":"2026-04-13T00:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264721\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T00:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:26:10","slug":"california-republicans-risk-trumps-wrath-as-they-break-ranks-over-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264721\/","title":{"rendered":"California Republicans risk Trump’s wrath as they break ranks over governor’s race"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump last week endorsed Republican Steve Hilton<\/a> for California\u2019s next governor. State Republicans think they may know better.<\/p>\n

The state GOP on Sunday decided not to endorse any Republican candidate for governor, a stunning rebuke of Trump\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n

More party delegates voted for Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, but not enough to reach the 60 percent needed to secure an endorsement. Bianco received 49 percent support; Hilton drew 44 percent.<\/p>\n

\"CaliforniaCalifornia gubernatorial candidate Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco listens to a supporter at the California Republican Party Convention in San Diego, Friday, April 10, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

The sheriff chalked up the undecided result as a win, he told KCRA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have been near that close. The noise from this room, it was obvious it was not going to be close and then, it was,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re very confident we\u2019ll be occupying the governor\u2019s office in January.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton still holds the lead in polling and has Trump\u2019s endorsement, which he noted on social media. \u201cNow it\u2019s time to get behind the candidate with the endorsement that matters, President Trump\u2019s!\u201d Hilton said.<\/p>\n

In the latest polls, Hilton has consistently led the pack, hovering around 16 to 22 percent across all voters. Bianco has at times come second or third to Hilton, hovering around 10 to 14 percent.<\/p>\n

\"SupportersSupporters cheer for California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton at the California Republican Party Convention in San Diego, Saturday, April 11, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

While many predicted<\/a> Trump\u2019s endorsement would funnel Republican support toward Hilton, Sunday\u2019s result complicates that narrative.<\/p>\n

It also increases the chances of a Democratic nightmare coming true<\/a>: where due to a crowded Democratic field, the June primary sees both Hilton and Bianco getting the most votes and therefore locking out Democrats from the general election.<\/p>\n

Both Hilton and Bianco have not been afraid to take swipes at each other.<\/p>\n

Bianco has stirred up drama<\/a> on how quickly Hilton obtained his citizenship, for example. He even denounced Trump\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, politicians and insiders from Sacramento to Washington have tried to pick our leaders for us,\u201d Bianco said on social media<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s not leadership. That\u2019s a coronation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton has dismissed Bianco with his lower polling status and taken swipes at some of the sheriff\u2019s policies, including on immigration.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump last week endorsed Republican Steve Hilton for California\u2019s next governor. State Republicans think they may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,46666,9,8,115994,536,9198,943,4594,13,15180,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-264721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-governor-election-2026","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-celebrity-endorsements","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-endorsements","15":"tag-governor","16":"tag-governors","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-republican-party","19":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}