California gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco reveals sports vision for state

A lifelong New York Yankees fan is asking the people of California to make him the next governor.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who grew up during the heyday of the Yankees-Dodgers rivalry in the 1970-80s, admitted he had mixed emotions when Shohei Ohtani and friends beat his childhood team in the 2024 World Series.

“I did [celebrate]. I was upset because I wanted the Yankees to win, but as a baseball fan at the time, I also realized the Dodgers were the better team. The Dodgers deserved to win and I was so happy to be from the Los Angeles area,” Bianco told Fox News Digital.

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Around the same time, Bianco watched as one of his Republican colleagues and former Dodgers star Steve Garvey, a key part of the ’70s-80s Dodgers-Yankees rivalry, ran for the U.S. Senate seat in California. Bianco campaigned with Garvey. But Garvey fell well short against Democratic incumbent Adam Schiff that year.

Bianco, who is now leading in many polls for California governor in 2026, believes two years of Democratic leadership since Garvey’s unsuccessful run has only strengthened the case for Republican voting in the Golden State.

“We are in a slightly worse scenario than in 2024,” Bianco said. “Californians are realizing that politics is corrupt, our state government is corrupt, and crime is really out of control.”

And sports aren’t spared any concerns in the state either.

With the Winter Olympics over and the Summer Olympics coming to Los Angeles in more than two years, concerns have grown about the city’s ability to host the games due to crime rates, homelessness, damage from wildfires in 2025 and rising taxes.

On the youth front, the state faces a continuing wave of biological male transgender athletes competing in girls’ high school sports as California’s administration refuses to comply with President Donald Trump’s mandate to ensure only female athletes compete in girls’ sports. The state’s denial led to a Justice Department lawsuit and multiple federal investigations; Dozens of California girls faced life-altering trauma, and some filed lawsuits of their own.

Bianco thinks he has a solution to both problems.

2028 Los Angeles Olympics

As a sheriff, Bianco believes that if Los Angles were to hold the Olympics this summer, it would not be possible to do so with the current state of the city.

Bianco stated that the city could host the games if they take place this year and said, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Everyone is wondering how they’re going to put on the Olympics… we don’t have the money for it, we don’t have the current resources for transportation or even housing to dedicate to it… I think it’s an absolute shame… I believe the United States will put on a great Olympics, but it’s definitely not a proud moment for the city of Los Angeles.”

Bianco highlighted financial mismanagement and allegations of fraud in the provincial government.

Los Angeles continues to have one of the nation’s largest homeless populations at more than 72,000 people, due to severe shortages of affordable housing and high rents. LA Homeless Services Authority.

As the Olympics approach, Bianco warned what he expects the Democratic leadership to do if they remain in power.

“They’re going to come in at the last minute and forcibly remove them all, and it’s not like they’re removing them, they’re just going to force them away from the outskirts of where these events are going to happen,” Bianco said. “It’s not good for anyone, it’s not good for those events, it’s not good for those neighborhoods, it’s definitely not good for homeless people.”

Bianco said a more workable solution would likely require years of resource allocation, which he hopes to undertake as the state’s next governor. It would eliminate funding

“We’ll have a year, probably a year and a half to two years, to make sure we address the homeless situation, and I guarantee you that’s enough time,” Bianco said. he said.

“This isn’t actually homeless, it’s not homes, it’s mental health issues as well as drug and alcohol addiction. We have to be honest and start treating this situation for what it is. So you eliminate all the money going to non-profits and NGOs, being wasted, abused and funneled back into politics. Stop this immediately.”

“You spend a small portion of that on drug and alcohol rehab, mental health rehab, and centers that treat both. Because those don’t exist right now. I can almost guarantee that we can solve 90% of the homeless problem that we see on the streets within the first year. By the second year, we can eliminate it all.”

There is also the issue of financial strain on athletes coming to the state.

Bianco pointed to the recent Super Bowl held in Santa Clara and the financial burden placed on players competing simply because they had to pay California taxes.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold lost nearly $71,000 due to California’s strict “sports tax.” While his week in California for Super Bowl LX earned him a $178,000 winner’s bonus, it also triggered higher state taxes of roughly $249,000 because the tax was applied to pro-rated earnings from his three-year, $105 million contract.

For Olympic athletes coming to town in 2028, especially Americans who earn far less than most average NFL players, Bianco worries about how the state’s current tax system could put them at a disadvantage due to financial constraints.

“The cost of living here is going to hit them hard,” Bianco said. “They don’t make a lot of money… It’s astronomically more expensive than anywhere else in the country, so it’s going to be detrimental to people.”

Bianco proposed eliminating the state income tax to replace the lost revenue with revenue from oil production. He also stated that as governor he would abolish the fuel tax and oppose the “mileage tax”.

“Taxes hurt everyone,” Bianco said.

Trans athletes in girls’ sports

California has become the country with the highest frequency of high school and college scandals involving biological male transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Current California Governor Gavin Newsom said he believes men are “deeply unfair” in women’s sports but has not taken any steps to address the situation. Newsom’s office issued a statement to Fox News Digital in September, arguing that the issue was beyond his control and responsibility.

“In order for the law to change, the legislature must send a bill to the Governor. They did not,” part of the statement read. it said.

Bianco said Newsom’s office is not telling the truth.

“Every time he opens his mouth, he’s not telling the truth. He’s telling his version of what he wants you to believe… The truth is, the governor is the top executive in this entire state and he sets the rules,” Bianco said.

“The governor is lying to put the blame on someone else because he doesn’t want to be held accountable for what’s happening in our schools and our girls, because he wants to be president and he knows the majority of the country will never vote for him knowing he won’t stop this, so he blames someone else.”

Bianco said he would use “force” as governor to ensure the protection of girls’ sports.

“You’re forcing people not to do it,” he said of how to handle schools that allow boys to participate in girls’ sports. “If they allow this in our high schools and our school system, we’re not going to fund it. We’re not going to fund the school, we’re not going to give them their money.”

But preventing the problem from continuing is only half the battle. The truth is that the problem has been going on in California for several years, and the state and many residents are concerned about the consequences.

Little boys in California are even transferred to schools without their parents’ permission and then placed on girls’ sports teams and locker rooms.

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The state now faces a lawsuit from the Department of Justice over its policy, while many schools also face individual lawsuits over related incidents.

Bianco believes he could “easily” resolve the Justice Department case simply by following Trump’s instructions.

But individual cases may require more steps, according to Bianco.

Two separate lawsuits have been filed against school districts in Bianco’s hometown of Riverside.

San Jose State University, a large, publicly funded university, was found by the U.S. Department of Education to have violated Title IX in its treatment of a transgender volleyball player from 2022-24 and has been sued by former athletes and a former coach over the same issue.

Bianco believes that young women affected by the pandemic deserve financial compensation, compensation from schools, and direct compensation from the government.

“Some [girls] some were seriously injured and some were simply emotionally traumatized. Schools need to pay for this. “The state government should pay for this,” Bianco said. “Our legal process allows for monetary remedies for situations like this, and they should get tons of money because they have been seriously victimized.

“There definitely needs to be regulations for these cases, for the girls who file the lawsuits… you either have to get it done… or you’re going to pay a lot of money. So they’re going to make money off of it and they should. They’ve been wronged, they’ve been very wronged.”

Under the current system, thousands of school employees in California are legally required to be complicit in the system that allows transgender athletes in girls’ sports, as well as the system that allows boys to change gender without parental consent or knowledge.

Some school employees were fired for refusing to be complicit.

Bianco has a message for all school staff about how to handle this issue. It encourages school employees to risk their employment by not complying with state laws in the short term.

“Stand up and do the right thing,” Bianco told school employees across the state. “Thank God we have teachers standing up for this and they’re doing the right thing, they flat out deny it and they got fired. Get the badge of honor. Because then you sue, like these teachers are doing it and now we see them win…

“As an adult, your job is to protect our children.”

Bianco also warned of consequences for school employees who do not comply if he becomes governor.

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“Absolutely,” Bianco said when asked if he would support consequences for transgender athletes in girls sports and school employees who comply with state law on gender transition for minors.

“Elected officials are afraid of one thing, and that’s not being re-elected, and when they know they’re not going to be re-elected because they hurt our girls or didn’t protect our children, they’re going to have to do the right thing in the end, and we’re going to make sure those changes are taken into account.”

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