CALIFORNIA—On Monday, February 17, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy for Governor of California at Avila’s Historic 1929 venue located at 3252 Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside.

Bianco has often spoken publicly of California’s Sanctuary status. He made the following statement at Monday’s campaign kick-off event. He also has verbally cast blame on the Democrat elected officials

“This is not going to be about party politics, this is going to be about fixing a broken state to make this the state that everyone in the country wants to come to. I’m tired of my friends leaving the state. I’m tired of watching my friend’s kids leave the state. We need to bring them all back with sanity and the promise that California is and once again will be the best state in this country,” and

“Today we fire up the machine that will restore the promise to all Californians that the dream is still alive. As I watched over the past year or so as career politicians, millionaires, and billionaires have positioned themselves as the governor-elect position of 2026, I realized that we are blindly continuing down this path of destruction. The same people responsible for the past 20 years of failed government all want the top position.”

According to the Riverside Sheriff’s Office webpage, Bianco was elected Sheriff, Coroner, and Public Administrator for Riverside County on November 6, 2018. As Sheriff, he serves as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Riverside County.

Sheriff Bianco oversees the County’s five jails, six court buildings, a civil bureau, the Public Administration office, twelve police stations, and seventeen contract cities, with 4,200 employees with an operating budget of just over one billion dollars.

Bianco is a member of the California State Sheriff’s Association, Major County Sheriffs of America Association, Western States Sheriff’s Association, the National Sheriff’s Association, and the California State Coroner’s Association.

Sheriff Bianco and his wife, Denise, live in the Woodcrest neighborhood of Riverside. They have four adult children and four grandchildren.

Governor Gavin Newsom is not up for reelection this year as his tenure has expired. The state’s primary election will be held on June 2, 2026.

The Sheriff’s contenders are from the Democrat party; Lt. Governor, Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarigosa, and former State Controller, Betty Yee.