Chad Bianco gains Republican primary push for California lockout
John Phillips urged Republicans to vote for chad bianco in the June primary, arguing that the party’s best route to the governor’s race runs through a Democratic lockout. He said ballots are in the mail and votes are being cast, with Californians set to choose the two candidates who advance to November.
Phillips wrote that if Steve Hilton and Bianco finish first and second, one of them would be guaranteed to become governor. He framed the choice around the state’s top-two primary system, where the November ballot will be decided by the June results.
Phillips and Bianco
The column, published under the headline “John Phillips: Republicans should play for the lockout, and vote for Chad Bianco,” identifies Bianco as the Riverside County Sheriff. Phillips said, “As a resident of Riverside County, I can attest that Chad Bianco is an excellent sheriff.” He also said Rancho Mirage did not become safe, orderly, and prosperous by accident.
Phillips added that Bianco and his deputies “will not put up with lawlessness.” He placed Bianco alongside Hilton as one of the two Republicans he was comfortable backing in the primary.
June Primary Math
Phillips said the strategy depends on Republicans splitting their vote as close to 50-50 as possible so Hilton and Bianco can take the top two positions in the June primary. He said, “The only shot we have of electing a Republican governor is for there to be a Democratic lockout on the November ballot.”
He also cited Paul Mitchell as saying the highest odds Republicans have had for a Democratic lockout were 28 percent. Under the rosiest circumstances for Republicans, Phillips said, Democrats would still have a 72 percent chance of winning the election.
Trump and Hilton
Phillips said President Trump coming out and endorsing Hilton for governor makes the 50-50 split harder to reach. That leaves Republicans with a narrow tactical choice in the June primary: concentrate enough support behind both Hilton and Bianco to keep a Democrat out of the top two, or risk a general election field that does not favor the party’s strategy.
Phillips summed up the scenario this way: “In California’s screwy top-two primary system, if Hilton and Bianco finish first and second in the June primary, one of them is guaranteed to be our next governor.”
