Chad Bianco vows to press on despite fourth-place showing in governor’s race

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco acknowledged his disappointment when election results starting flowing in Tuesday night in the race for California governor, but insisted he isn’t going away anytime soon despite his apparent fourth-place finish.

In a brief interview after addressing supporters at his standing-room-only campaign party at the Staybridge Suites in Eastvale, Bianco said, “I know that we did everything that we could. In the end, no matter what, if it’s not in the cards for me to be your next governor, I’m still going to be the sheriff of the fourth largest county in the entire country, and I’m going to be fighting every single day to make sure Californians’ lives are better.”

Clad in his signature cowboy hat, Bianco got a big laugh from the crowd when he vowed to continue to “make sure Sacramento hates me.”

Bianco expressed appreciation to all his supporters who stood by him over the past 16 months during his primary campaign. He said he had decided to run for governor for only one reason.

“It’s because of an absolute failed political agenda in California, and there is only one way to fix that, and that is absolutely to disrupt and destroy this agenda in Sacramento that is ruining our lives,” Bianco said during his speech.

No sooner could Bianco say, “We’re now waiting for that stupid screen to update” than the wall-mounted big screen did just that, showing the first election tally showing Bianco in fourth place behind fellow Republican Steve Hilton an Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer.

“There’s going to be 30 days of counting ballots. We have a long ways to go,” he told the crowd. “It’s going to be a long night. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow, and it’s going to be a long couple of weeks.”

Whatever the outcome, Bianco said, “I’m either going to be your next governor, or I’m still going to be your sheriff.”

Despite the disappointing results, the night was marked with revelry. A white Volkswagen Tiguan parked outside the hotel, splattered with Bianco campaign stickers, had two American flags and two Blue Lives Matter flags affixed to its doors and a black banner that said “Bianco for Governor” draped across the hood.

Guests, many also clad in cowboy hats, dined on barbecue and danced to country music. Bianco campaign signs lay strewn across tables when supporters weren’t busy waving them.

During a break from socializing with his supporters, Bianco said he ran a campaign based on honesty and integrity.

“For me and my career, that’s all I have,” the conservative sheriff said. “Unfortunately, I know that’s not what politics is. I really thought, and really hoped, that California was over politics and that California was looking for a real leader of character, and I gotta be honest, they obviously are not. California obviously did not choose leadership and integrity.”

Bianco said low voter turnout also may have dampened his chances.

“We’re going to see that this is a very low voter turnout” he said. “We’re still going to have 50% or 60% of California that doesn’t vote. What can we expect if the same people are voting over and over again?

“I thought that things were going to be different. I thought things were bad enough in California that people were going to be looking for something different — for an honest person of character that is just doing something for someone else instead of for their own personal agenda or for politics, but maybe we’re not at that point yet, “ Bianco said.

Clad in a black cowboy hat, Tito Saldana, 57, of Jurupa Valley remained confident early in the evening that Bianco could still pull into one of the top two spots and move into the general election fray.

Saldana, who said he worked on Bianco’s campaign for the past 16 months, said he talked to more than 1,000 people at gas stations, shopping centers and even at their homes, telling them what the sheriff could do for them as governor.

“I spoke to everybody. I think I turned a few Dems, too,” he said.

He said California needs Bianco.

“We need to turn this state around,” he said, “and we need the state’s top cop to fix it.”