Republicans endorse neither Hilton nor Bianco for governor | California
(The Center Square) – Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, the two leading Republican candidates for California governor, both failed to get an endorsement Sunday from the California Republican Party less than 60 days before the June 2 primary election.
Bianco got 49% of the delegates’ votes and Hilton, 44%, at the California Republican Convention at the Sheraton San Diego Resort. That put both short of the required 60% threshold to clinch the party’s endorsement.
“The California Republican Party has an amazing candidate problem,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin said at the podium during the general session of the California Republican Party’s third and last day of the convention.
Hilton was endorsed in California’s gubernatorial race by President Donald Trump on Monday.
Steve Hilton, a former Fox host who’s a leading Republican candidate for governor, stands by his campaign area at the California Republican Convention in San Diego, April 11, 2026. Photo: Madeline Shannon / The Center Square
Delegates show their support for gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco at the California Republican Convention in San Diego, April 12, 2026. Photo: Madeline Shannon / The Center Square
The state Republican Party did make endorsements for other statewide races on the convention’s third and final day. Delegates from across California voted to endorse Gloria Romero for lieutenant governor, Don Wagner for secretary of state, Herb Morgan for controller, Jennifer Hawks for treasurer and Michael Gates for attorney general. Sonja Shaw was endorsed for superintendent of public instruction and Stacy Korsgaden for insurance commissioner.
David Serpa, a Republican candidate for treasurer, lost the party’s endorsement for that office on Sunday morning.
“Congratulations, Jennifer Hawks,” Serpa said after delegates voted to endorse Hawks instead. “My thought about it is it says more about the Republican Party than it says about me.”
Hawks’ team did not respond to The Center Square on Sunday morning.
The California Republican Party also announced it supports a voter identification proposal introduced at the convention this year. An initiative launched earlier this year by Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, would require Californians to have voter ID in order to cast ballots, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.
One of the first resolutions adopted on Sunday morning was a proposal affirming parental rights in California, while another resolution, stopping any proposed mileage tax, passed with cheers.
Another resolution that passed on Sunday condemned inflammatory Democratic rhetoric. A resolution that aims to stop poisonings of Californians by the drug cartels also passed.
Over the weekend, the party endorsed current California Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-East Nicolaus and the former Assembly minority leader, in the race for the state’s 1st Congressional District. He is the only state legislator running for Congress.
A number of current Republican representatives in California’s delegation in Washington, D.C. were endorsed by the California Republican Party in the November election. Current California state senators and Assembly members also were endorsed for re-election.
