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EXCLUSIVE: Former UFC fighter Dan Henderson officially endorsed Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026, he told Fox News Digital.
Bianco, the current police sheriff of Riverside County, is running as a Republican and led the field in an October poll by the University of California, Berkeley over Republican challenger Steve Hilton and Democratic frontrunner Katie Porter.
Henderson said Bianco earned his support in 2020, when the sheriff famously refused to enforce the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and mask mandates.
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“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 said.
“A lot of business owners would have went out of business, and maybe even worse, as far as losing a lot of the things that they had, had he shut all the business down like the governor wanted… It was more common sense, he didn’t panic and think the world was going to end.”
As a lifelong California resident, Henderson has dealt with certain difficulties in his home state in recent years under the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats. Henderson said that while he plans to remain in California, he’s seen 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 up his tank with current California gas prices. He wants to see the next governor take advantage of the natural oil off California’s shores to increase the state’s access to gasoline, and bring prices down, instead of relying on foreign suppliers.
“We have the highest prices in the country,” Henderson said. “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.”
The migrant crisis and ICE agent targeting
“I think everybody should have to come into our country legally, just like if we wanted to go into others country, we have to legally do that,” Henderson said. “I have friends who are legal [immigrants], and they would like to see everyone else come in the way they did, legally.”
Residents surround federal and Border Patrol agents who plan 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, demonstrators allegedly threw rocks and bottles at officers, resulting in injuries. In July 2025, agents conducting a raid in Camarillo and Oxnard were reportedly attacked with rocks, and one of their vehicles was blocked and hit.
Newsom has signed multiple laws that affect ICE agents, including a measure that prohibits federal and local law enforcement from wearing masks that conceal their identities while on duty. The laws also ban ICE from entering schools and hospitals without a warrant.
“[ICE] is trying to protect everybody by getting criminals, not just immigrants, but more of the worst of the worst immigrants, not even immigrants but illegals, and for them to not be able to do their job and make our state safer… I think it’s ridiculous that they’re having to deal with, some of their biggest problems are coming from our citizens, from some on the left.”
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Trans athletes in girls’ sports
California education policy currently allows biological males to compete in girls’ high sports.
“It’s just not fair to women that train hard to beat other women and, you know, for their gender, they’re the top of the world, but then they are forced to compete against the men… in most sports, the girls don’t have a chance,” Henderson said.
Newsom himself has said, multiple times, that he believes males competing in girls’ sports is “unfair.” Yet, he has not taken any action to address the issue.
“He doesn’t really care much about fixing it,” Henderson added.
The Los Angeles wildfires
Newsom was the subject of immense criticism when wildfires ravaged the city in January.
“[Newsom] just didn’t make sure everything was handled properly. And there wasn’t enough water reserve and that’s it. A lot of people didn’t know that that was an issue, but I’m sure he did,” Henderson told Fox News Digital.
Newsom ordered an independent investigation of the Los Angeles Department of Water Pressure on Jan. 10 regarding the loss of water pressure and deliberate shutdown of the reservoir, calling it “deeply troubling,” according to court records.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA wildfires (Getty)
Newsom added that the loss of water pressure “likely impaired” the ability of firefighters to protect homes and evacuation zones in the Pacific Palisades.
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