Politics
Republicans Break With Trump in California
By Mike Harper · April 13, 2026
Trump picked a side. California Republicans didn’t follow.
Just days after President Trump endorsed former Fox News host Steve Hilton for California governor, the state’s GOP delegates gathered in San Diego for their spring convention — and declined to back him. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco pulled in 49% of the delegate vote, edging out Trump’s preferred candidate Hilton at 44%. Under California Republican Party rules, a candidate needs 60% to secure a formal endorsement. Neither got there. The party left San Diego without backing anyone.
That’s a quiet but meaningful rebuke.
Trump’s endorsement of Hilton landed just before the convention and immediately scrambled the party’s carefully managed strategy. California Republicans had been operating on a specific theory of the race: with eight major Democratic candidates splitting the liberal vote, both Hilton and Bianco could potentially finish first and second in the June 2 jungle primary — locking Democrats out of November entirely. For that to work, the two Republicans needed to stay roughly even in support and avoid a damaging split. According to CalMatters, Republican consultant Rob Stutzman put it plainly: “He screwed over California Republicans yet again. It’s just political malpractice to not have done a dual endorsement.”
The numbers tell the story. In the most recent polling, Hilton and Bianco sat at 17% and 16% respectively — a near-perfect tie that the theory of the race required. Trump’s thumb on the scale tips that balance, potentially consolidating support behind Hilton while leaving Bianco supporters feeling frozen out. If Bianco’s support collapses, a Democrat could slip into the second spot.
There’s a deeper irony embedded in the situation. Both candidates have worked to distance themselves from Trump on the campaign trail — because nearly three-quarters of California voters disapprove of the president. Bianco himself said if he got Trump’s support, he’d downplay it. Hilton has promoted “CalDOGE” — a nod to the federal efficiency push — while avoiding Trump’s name directly. The endorsement they privately might have wanted became the endorsement neither could afford publicly.
Bianco’s response to losing the delegate vote was characteristically direct. “I have the majority of the vote here so I have the popular vote,” he said, framing the result as a win. Several delegates echoed that sentiment, saying the lack of an endorsement actually kept the party unified rather than fracturing it further.
The June 2 primary will settle what the convention couldn’t. Whether both Republicans advance depends on the Democratic field staying fragmented — something that is far from guaranteed as candidates continue to drop out and consolidate. What’s already clear is that Trump’s intervention has made a delicate situation more complicated, in a state where Republican fortunes were already operating on razor-thin margins.
California hasn’t elected a Republican governor in 20 years. The path back runs through unity. This weekend didn’t help.