SACRAMENTO, California — Southern California Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican supporter of Donald Trump and fierce critic of Gavin Newsom, will run for California governor in 2026, two people familiar with his plans tell POLITICO.
Bianco, who has built a firebrand profile on issues of crime and punishment, faces strong headwinds in a blue state that hasn’t bucked the majority party in nearly two decades. But he’s looking to build off momentum from a fall statewide ballot measure he helped champion — Proposition 36 — that increased penalties for certain drug and theft crimes.
Bianco has been eyeing higher office since at least last spring. POLITICO reported in April that activists were talking him up as a future Sacramento aspirant when Newsom completes his final term. At the time, an adviser said California has a lot of problems, and its citizens are looking “outside the Sacramento political class to bring the state back.”…