Steve Hilton blasted GOP rival Sheriff Chad Bianco for skipping Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate — and taking a knee with George Floyd protesters in 2020.
The former Fox News host’s missile at the start of the debate was one of the few shots fired in an otherwise sleepy start to the governor’s race.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco takes a knee with demonstrators during a protest against the death of George Floyd during the coronavirus pandemic on June 1, 2020. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks during an event to announce Michael Gates’ candidacy for California Attorney General. APOther candidates who joined the debate included San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and progressive billionaire Tom Steyer.
For many voters, the event — hosted at the Bayview Opera House by the Black Action Alliance and televised by Fox stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles — was an introduction to Mahan, who’s quickly becoming the new favorite.
Before answering questions from moderators, Hilton wanted to address the “RINO who is not in the room.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks at a news conference during National Police Week in Washington, DC. Getty Images“In 2020, during the Black Lives Matter riots, he took a knee when told to by BLM,” Hilton said. “Now, he says he was praying.”
Hilton urged voters not to take his word for it, but see the video of the “shifty sheriff” online for themselves. “Chad Bianco has got more baggage than LAX,” he said.
Though Hilton and Bianco have an uphill battle in a state that has run blue since Arnold Schwarzenegger left the governor’s mansion in 2011, the former candidate wants to separate himself from the competition.
Hilton is considered the leading Republican in the 2026 California gubernatorial race, and has been a prolific fundraiser so far. He raised about $4.1 million in the second half of 2025, more than most candidates in the race.
During the debate, Hilton accused Mahan of opposing his plan to end taxation on housing.
“He likes taxes, unless they’re for billionaires,” Hilton said, referencing the controversial billionaires tax proposal.
The crowd at the Ruth Williams Opera House howled over the burn.
Mahan laughed and said Hilton “must have been talking to a different mayor,” before noting that special interests in Sacramento and “regulatory capture” are to blame for road blocks to new housing
Mahan also fired back at Hilton’s quip on housing, saying he’d given him a pleasant tour of San Jose last week. “I don’t know what changed in the last week,” Mahan said. “Maybe I just jumped into this race.”
In a later discussion on crime and street crises across the state, Hilton took aim at the state’s lack of leadership under Newsom — and one of his infrequent cheerleaders.
“I’m sorry to keep picking on Matt, but he just said that the thing he admires most about Gavin Newsom is his response to homelessness,” Hilton said. “You’ve got to be kidding, Matt.”
But in a sign that Hilton will playing with fire when criticizing left-wing policies in deep-blue California, the former Fox News host lost the room — a mostly Black audience in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood — by calling for higher incarceration rates.
“More prisons, less crime,” Hilton said. “That’s what we need to do.”
Boos rang throughout the opera house.
Besides Bianco, other noticeable absences were Eric Swalwell and former rep. Katie Porter.
Swalwell apparently decided to skip the debate to cast votes in Congress, an interesting move given he missed the most votes last year of any active member of Congress. Swalwell, with the help of Hollywood elites, has raised about $3.1 million since joining the race in November.
Other lower-profile candidates who attended the debate were former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ex-state controller Betty Yee, ex-US secretary of health and human services Xavier Becerra, and Tony Thurmond, the state superintendent of schools.
There’s still no clear frontrunner in the race.
An Emerson College poll in December showed Bianco leading the wide field with 13% support, just ahead of Hilton and Swalwell at 12%. Porter came in at 11%, and three other Democrats like Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former US secretary of health and human services Xavier Becerra and progressive billionaire Tom Steyer came in with 5% support or less.
About a third of the voters asked in the poll were undecided.
However, Mahan’s entry to the race last week has created buzz around the race, with his focus on affordability and government efficiency. The moderate Democrat, who has been an outspoken critic of Newsom’s approach to governing and combatting President Trump, also has taken aim at what he sees as waste, fraud and abuse.
Betting markets have pegged Mahan as a new favorite.
