TEMECULA, CA — Temecula native Dan Henderson, former UFC fighter and Olympic wrester, has announced his endorsement for Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s bid for California governor.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Henderson, a lifelong Riverside County resident, was highly critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom for his stance on issues like gas prices, immigration and transgender athletes.
“We have the highest [fuel] prices in the country,” Henderson, who drives a Grenadier that costs about $100 to fill with gas, told Fox News. “We have a lot of oil under the ground that we’re not even using, but we buy everything, and we have a big deficit every year, because we’re not utilizing our resources.”
Meanwhile, Henderson praised Bianco for his handling of the COVID pandemic.
“It was kind of a blessing that he didn’t shut everything down as long as we were being responsible with everything. I kind of admired how he handled that whole situation,” Henderson told the station.
“He’s got a lot of great ideas,” Henderson said.
Bianco garnered attention nationwide in 2020 when he publicly refused to enforce many state-mandated COVID-19 stay-at-home orders from Newsom’s office during the pandemic.
The pro-fighter, who also owns Dan Henderson’s Athletic Fitness Center and Hendo’s Barrel House, said he believes business owners would have suffered during the pandemic more in Riverside County if it weren’t for Bianco.
“It was more common sense, he didn’t panic and think the world was going to end,” he told Fox News.
“I’m excited about the possibility of him getting into office.”
Read the full interview from Fox News here.
While there is no clear frontrunner yet in the race for Newsom’s seat next year, the Republican sheriff has made a surprising leap over several prominent Democratic candidates, according to a new poll released last month.
In the survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Bianco led the field with 13 percent of likely voters saying they would support him. Meanwhile, Democrat Katie Porter received 11 percent and Xavier Becerra garnered just 8 percent of likely support.
However, the poll also found that 44 percent of respondents remain undecided, a clear indication of how open and fluid the race still is.
“The results suggest that the governor’s race remains wide open; with many Democratic voters still far from decided,” said IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler. “Now that Proposition 50 has passed, the candidates will need to now seize the opportunity to get voters’ attention.”
The last time the Golden State elected a Republican governor was in 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger took office.
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