Bianco’s silence on primary results tests GOP unity in tough governor’s race
In the hours and days following the close of the polls on June 2, one Democratic gubernatorial hopeful after another conceded and backed primary winner Xavier Becerra.
But there has not been the same unity among the Republicans, who will need every GOP vote and more to overcome California’s deeply Democratic demographics.
More than three weeks after Republican Chad Bianco placed a distant fourth in the crowded primary, the Riverside County sheriff has yet to formally acknowledge his loss or back rival Steve Hilton, who will face Becerra in the November election. Bianco is on track to win 10% of the primary vote, compared to around 23% for third-place finisher Democrat Tom Steyer, 25% for Hilton and 28% for Becerra.
His unwillingness to back Hilton drew a roundabout rebuke from California Republican Party Chair Corrin Rankin.
“November is our opportunity to change California’s direction,” Rankin said in a statement Thursday. “But it will take every one of us. United, we can end one-party rule, restore common sense, and make California affordable again.”
Bianco did not respond to phone calls seeking comment, and his campaign spokesperson didn’t answer emails. A video posted on his Instagram account on June 5 showed Bianco mingling with guests at his election night watch party, overlaid with a speech thanking supporters. At points in that address, Bianco nodded to the possibility he might lose.
“In the end, I will make absolutely sure that Sacramento hates me and that you love me,” the sheriff said.
Hilton’s campaign declined to comment.
An on-and-off again rivalry during the primary
The two men shared a similar message during the primary, slamming Democrats for mismanaging the state and calling for tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks.
They traded verbal blows earlier this year, with Hilton attacking Bianco’s conservative credentials on immigration and the 2020 racial justice protests and the sheriff calling his rival "dishonest” in a February interview with The Sacramento Bee.
The rivals were polling closely before President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton in April, boosting his campaign. In the closing weeks, Bianco seemed to soften his tone toward Hilton. In one debate, Bianco said Hilton was the only other candidate he’d consider supporting. In another, he said that “Steve and I sat here smiling at each other” as their rivals “prove to everyone why they can’t vote for a Democrat.”
Tim Rosales, a GOP consultant who managed Republican John Cox’s 2018 run against Gavin Newsom, said it used to be more common for primary opponents to join forces, sometimes with a unity event.
“It’s like, ‘Now we’re all on the same team, and we go fight the bad guys in November,’ ” Rosales said.
But Rosales said that tradition was fading, possibly another casualty of a more cutthroat political climate. Rosales said GOP voters were likely unified behind Hilton regardless of whether he got the nod from Bianco.
Bianco has job-related controversies
Bianco has remained in the news even after his primary defeat. The Press-Enterprise reported a Riverside County supervisor is seeking an investigation into whether the sheriff misused public resources, including his uniform, official events, county equipment, and the sheriff’s office’s social media channels, during his run for governor.
The sheriff is also fighting back against a grand jury report released last month that highlighted “an alarming number of in-custody deaths” in county jails overseen by Bianco and called for strengthening oversight of the facilities. Bianco told KABC earlier this week the report is “worth absolutely nothing.”
And Bianco is still involved in a legal fight with Attorney General Rob Bonta over his decision earlier this year to seize county ballots from last year’s Proposition 50 special election. The investigation appeared to be animated by a conservative activists’ misunderstanding of the county’s ballot-counting process. In April, the California Supreme Court ordered the investigation halted and the ballots returned to a special monitor while it considers Bonta’s argument that Bianco overstepped his constitutional bounds.
The court has yet to schedule oral arguments in that case.
