Sheriff sued for campaigning for governor in uniform. He alleges ‘lawfare’
Riverside County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco is being sued by a political opponent who alleges Bianco has violated state law by campaigning while wearing his law enforcement uniform.
The suit was filed in Riverside Superior Court by Stephen J. Cloobeck, a Democratic megadonor and first-time candidate for governor.
It points to numerous media interviews, campaign speeches and social media posts in which Bianco has worn clothing that include his name, title and the Riverside Sheriff’s Office logo since launching his gubernatorial campaign earlier this year.
The legal filing asks the court to prohibit Bianco from wearing his uniform for any future campaign activities and to order the Sheriff to remove posts from his social media accounts that show him in uniform while discussing his campaign to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
California law prohibits state and local government employees from participating in political activities while in uniform.
“The people of Riverside County and all Californians need to know that their elected sheriff is misusing public funds and is perpetuating the culture of Republican corruption in law enforcement,” Cloobeck said in a statement. “Bianco has broken the law by wearing his uniform as a campaign prop. He needs to be held accountable for bending the law for his personal campaign.”
In a statement, Bianco said the suit amounts to “lawfare,” accusing Cloobeck of using the legal system to harass or delegitimize an opponent.
“Democrat Stephen Cloobeck filed suit against Sheriff Bianco yesterday because Stephen Cloobeck didn’t like the clothes Sheriff Bianco wears on the campaign trail,” Bianco’s campaign wrote in a statement.
“If Democrat Stephen Cloobeck thinks that Stephen Cloobeck can increase his name ID and Democratic bonafides by using lawfare against the Sheriff Bianco campaign, then Stephen Cloobeck is sorely mistaken,” the statement read. “Sheriff Bianco is the leading Republican in the race for California Governor. We very much discourage all the other D-list Democratic candidates for Governor from trying to copy Stephen Cloobeck’s disdainful tactics.”
Cloobeck is also running a television ad in Orange County – where the California Republican Party’s convention takes place this weekend – accusing Bianco of corruption and incompetence. The billionaire and former timeshare CEO has dropped more than $10 million of his own fortune into his gubernatorial campaign.
Cloobeck also filed suit earlier this year against fellow Democratic candidate Antonio Villaraigosa over the former Los Angeles mayor’s use of the phrase “proven problem solver,” a version of which Cloobeck is seeking to trademark.