For more than a year, Chad Bianco crisscrossed California introducing himself as “your next governor.”
Now, Bianco will fall back on a more familiar title: Riverside County sheriff.
An outspoken style, a vow to shake up Sacramento and an “Only the sheriff can save us now” campaign slogan weren’t enough to push Bianco above a crowded gubernatorial primary field and into the general election to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Only the top two candidates — Becerra and Hilton — will move on to November’s general election.
The sheriff, 58, did not respond this week to requests for comment.
As one chapter closes in Bianco’s political career, the next is yet to be written. He’s opened a campaign account to run for sheriff in 2028, but a local political observer offered other options.
Bianco’s run for governor “demonstrates political ambition, but the question remains on how it might be channeled,” Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, said via email.
“Does he hit the campaign trail with Hilton. … Does he wish to move to Washington. … and seek out an appointment from the Trump administration? Does he wish to promote ballot initiatives? Alternatively, he may simply wish to continue serving as Riverside County sheriff but with a more prominent profile.”
Speaking to supporters on election night, June 2, the mustachioed sheriff, wearing his trademark cowboy hat, vowed to continue making sure “Sacramento hates me.”
“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,” he said. “And I’m going to be fighting every single day to make sure Californians’ lives are better.”
Bianco’s campaign “already accomplished something important: it elevated issues that many Californians feel are being ignored — public safety, accountability in state leadership, and restoring trust in government institutions,” Sonja Shaw, the conservative Chino Valley school board president, said via a text message.
“You can either sit back and wait to be rescued or you can step up and provide an option for change,” added Shaw, who is running in November for state superintendent of public instruction. “He chose to step in.”
Bianco is “without a doubt” one of the leading figures among California conservatives, said 412 Church Temecula Valley Pastor Tim Thompson, a Bianco ally from southwest Riverside County.
In Riverside County, “he’s not the sheriff. He’s known as the beloved sheriff” and would easily win reelection, Thompson said, adding he hasn’t spoken with Bianco about his future plans.
First elected sheriff in 2018, Bianco launched his gubernatorial bid in February 2025 on a bedrock of local Republican support.
In debates and campaign speeches, he promised to “make crime illegal again” by cracking down on retail theft among other actions. He also pledged to eliminate California’s income tax, suspend its gas tax and end vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.
The sheriff endorsed Donald Trump in 2024, quipping “It’s time we put a felon in the White House.” Despite this, the president endorsed Hilton in April.
“As soon as Hilton joined the race, Bianco was an underdog to advance to the general election,” Godwin said.
“He was very competitive with Hilton at the (state GOP) convention, but President Trump’s endorsement sealed it for Hilton. Hilton’s comfort level with (the) media and on debate stages also came through.”
The sheriff raised more than $6.3 million for his gubernatorial bid. He can transfer any leftover funds to his sheriff’s campaign if he does so by the end of September, according to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign finance rules.
Assuming he doesn’t step down or seek another office, Bianco will be up for reelection in 2028. California lawmakers moved sheriffs’ races to presidential election years, giving Bianco an extra two years beyond his original four-year term.
He may have finished fourth statewide, but Bianco enjoyed a strong Inland showing in the governor’s race.
He led his rivals in Riverside County until Wednesday, when he fell behind Becerra by about 2,600 votes. Bianco trailed Becerra by roughly 2,900 votes entering Friday.
Bianco, who unseated Sheriff Stan Sniff in 2018, was reelected in 2022 with 61% of the vote. The deep-pocketed Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, a law enforcement union that endorsed him for governor, has backed Bianco throughout his political career.
Despite all this, the sheriff might face a tougher reelection fight in 2028.
Voter turnout in presidential elections tends to be higher than non-presidential cycles. In a county with a plurality of Democratic voters, that could bring out more Democrats unreceptive to a conservative Republican like Bianco.
The sheriff also faces scrutiny about inmate deaths in county jails. A New York Times investigation found that Riverside County’s jails were among the nation’s most lethal, with 19 deaths in 2022 alone.
Earlier this year, Bianco stirred outrage among voting rights advocates when his department seized more than 650,000 Riverside County ballots cast in November’s Proposition 50 special election.
Bianco has said he wants to see if an alleged 45,000-vote gap exists between ballots cast by voters and ballots received by elections officials and if so, what caused it. The investigation is on hold pending a legal challenge by state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Riverside County Democratic Party Chair Joy Silver thinks the governor’s race exposed Bianco.
“In debates, Bianco appeared unprepared on key topics and became emotional when pressed about his past decisions and statements,” Silver said via email. “He frequently deflected blame and denied responsibility for issues within his department.”
California law requires sheriff’s candidates to have a law enforcement background. Silver said her party is “currently evaluating several candidates, though none have been named definitively yet.”
Retired Riverside County sheriff’s Capt. Michael Lujan lost to Bianco in 2024.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Lujan said he’s considering running for sheriff in 2028 “based on the direction the department has gone in terms of integrity and honesty and professionalism.”
Lujan said he hopes to decide whether to enter the race by the end of the year.
Jack Guerrero, a Riverside County GOP member who also serves as treasurer and a board member for the state Republican Party, sees a bright future for Bianco.
“Sheriff Bianco ran an impressive statewide campaign and succeeded in attracting grassroots supporters throughout the state,” said Guerrero, who previously ran for Riverside County supervisor and California state treasurer. “While he did not advance to November’s general election, he demonstrated that there remains a significant constituency for public safety, fiscal discipline and lower taxes — all themes central to his campaign.”
The sheriff “has a compelling profile for future political endeavors representing Riverside County,” Guerrero added. “Minimally, I expect his voice will remain an important one in California politics for years to come.”