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EXCLUSIVE: Former UFC fighter Dan Henderson has officially endorsed Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026, he told PK Press Club Digital.
Bianco, the current Riverside County police sheriff, is running as a Republican and led the field in an October University of California, Berkeley poll against Republican challenger Steve Hilton and Democratic front-runner Katie Porter.
Henderson said Bianco gained his support in 2020, when the sheriff refused to enforce the state’s stay-at-home orders and mask mandates related to COVID-19.
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“It was kind of a blessing that he didn’t shut everything down as long as we were responsible for everything. I kind of admired the way he handled that whole situation,” Henderson said.
“A lot of business owners would have gone bankrupt, and maybe even worse, in that they would have lost a lot of things that they owned, if he had closed all the businesses like the governor wanted… It was more common sense, he didn’t panic and think the world was going to end.”
As a longtime California resident, Henderson has faced some challenges in his home state in recent years under the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats. Henderson said that although he planned to stay in California, he saw many of his closest friends flee to Texas, Tennessee and Florida.
Henderson shared his biggest grievances.
Gas prices
Henderson drives a Grenadier and said it takes about $100 to fill his tank with current California gas prices. He wants the next governor to take advantage of natural oil off California’s coast to increase the state’s access to gasoline and lower prices, instead of relying on foreign suppliers.
“We have the highest prices in the country,” Henderson said. “We have a lot of oil underground that we don’t even use, but we buy it all and we have a big deficit every year, because we don’t use our resources.”
The Migrant Crisis and the Targeting of ICE Agents
“I think everyone should be required to enter our country legally, just like if we wanted to go to another country, we have to do it legally,” Henderson said. “I have friends who are legal [immigrants]and they would like to see everyone come as they did, legally. »
Residents surround federal and Border Patrol agents planning their escape after an immigrant raid in Bell, California, June 19, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
ICE agents in California have been frequent targets of protesters in 2025. In June, during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles, protesters reportedly threw rocks and bottles at officers, injuring them. In July 2025, agents conducting a raid in Camarillo and Oxnard were allegedly attacked with rocks and one of their vehicles was blocked and hit.
Newsom signed several laws that affect ICE agents, including a measure that prohibits federal and local law enforcement from wearing masks that conceal their identity while on duty. The laws also prohibit ICE from entering schools and hospitals without a warrant.
“[ICE] “He’s trying to protect everyone by catching criminals, not just immigrants, but rather the worst of the worst immigrants, not even immigrants but illegals, and stopping them from doing their job and making our state safer…I think it’s ridiculous that they have to deal with, some of their biggest problems are coming from our citizens, from some on the left.”
INSIDE GAVIN NEWSOM’S TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL CRISIS
Trans athletes in women’s sports
California education policy currently allows biological males to compete in high-level girls-only sports.
“It’s just not fair to women who train hard to beat other women and, you know, for their gender, they’re the best in the world, but then they’re forced to compete with men… in most sports, girls don’t stand a chance,” Henderson said.
Newsom himself has repeatedly stated that he thinks men competing in women’s sports is “unfair.” Yet he took no action to resolve the problem.
“He doesn’t really care about fixing it,” Henderson added.
Wildfires in Los Angeles
Newsom faced immense criticism when wildfires ravaged the city in January.
“[Newsom] I just didn’t make sure everything was handled correctly. And there was not enough water reserve and that’s it. A lot of people didn’t know it was a problem, but I’m sure he did,” Henderson told PK Press Club Digital.
Newsom ordered an independent investigation of the Los Angeles Department of Water Pressure on Jan. 10 regarding the loss of water pressure and the deliberate closing of the reservoir, calling it “deeply troubling,” according to court records.
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Governor Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles wildfires (Getty)
Newsom added that the loss of water pressure “probably impaired” firefighters’ ability to protect homes and evacuation areas in the Pacific Palisades.
