*Breaking* Does GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bianco Support Amnesty for Illegal Aliens? Breitbart reports on this. Read their report and watch the Sheriff in his own words...
Also - this afternoon a 5pm we're doing a first ever (for us) live Substack event. Tune in! Details below...
Quick Reminder
This afternoon at 5 pm, we are trying something new for So, Does It Matter? We’re going LIVE! For about half an hour, I willriff on a variety of hot topics, and then we will try to do some Q&A. Certainly, this bombshell below will be a topic! We will also hit on a potential Kiley v. McClintock battle in CD5. Is Matt Mahan a legit moderate? Gubernatorial Polling, and is there value in pursuing a CAGOP endorsement if you are a statewide candidate?
I sent out a calendar invite. But here is the direct link. Me? Live? What could go wrong?
Pathway to Citizenship? Bianco’s Podcast Comments May Help Him The General, But He Has To Make the Top Two First…
A new Breitbart report is drawing attention to remarks from Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco that could prove politically controversial in a Republican gubernatorial primary — particularly on the issue of immigration.
According to the report, Bianco expressed support for a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants during podcast appearances, a position that places him notably outside the mainstream of Republican primary voter sentiment, which has historically leaned heavily toward enforcement-first policies rather than legalization frameworks.
Importantly, this is not based solely on secondhand characterization. Below is the embedded YouTube episode of the Britt Mayer Show, where viewers can watch the exchange directly near the end of the interview as Mayer presses Bianco on immigration policy and potential reforms.
At that point in the conversation, Bianco does not hedge.
“Absolutely,” Bianco says when asked about supporting a path to citizenship.
In the same discussion, he goes further, indicating a willingness to advocate at the federal level for such an approach — a striking posture for a Republican candidate seeking statewide office in California.
Here is the video of Bianco on the fantastic Britt Mayer Show (I subscribe, do you? I listen to it via podcast, but you can watch it on YouTube, obviously.). The whole interview is worth watching, but for now, go to the 56-minute mark near the end to see the short exchange being reported on.
This is where the political implications become significant.
In a de facto Republican primary environment, where the most engaged voters tend to be highly skeptical of legalization policies, endorsing a pathway to citizenship for adults who knowingly violated federal law by entering the country illegally is not a minor policy nuance. It is an edgy and potentially defining position.
For years, Republican primary voters — both in California and nationally — have drawn a sharp distinction between border security reforms and what they perceive as amnesty-adjacent proposals. Even carefully framed legalization concepts often face intense scrutiny within the party base.
That creates a clear strategic tension for Bianco. His statewide profile has been built on a tough-on-crime, law-and-order image. But immigration is a core ideological litmus test in Republican primaries…
By staking out this position on a recorded podcast — and doing so in unequivocal terms — Bianco has now put a policy marker down that is almost certain to be revisited as the gubernatorial primary conversation intensifies.
And it’s worth ending on this note. So far, President Trump has not weighed in on the race between Bianco and Steve Hilton, the two clear top-tier GOP candidates. No saying that he will. But this marked contrast with Trump on arguably the President’s signature issue could change the dynamic. Stay tuned…
FWIW
For what it’s worth - I have not endorsed anybody in this race. I’ve met all the major candidates on the Republican side. In fact we’ve done podcasts with them. What you’ve got here is me calling balls and strikes.