San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto has endorsed Chad Bianco, a right-wing,Trump-supporting Republican, to succeed Gavin Newsom as governor of California.
Miyamoto is listed as an endorsee on the website of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County. Miyamoto confirmed to Mission Local on Wednesday that his inclusion on this list is not an error.
“I support Sheriff Chad Bianco, alongside other sheriffs in California, as a peer leader in law enforcement and in the work we do to keep our communities safe,” Miyamoto wrote in a statement to Mission Local. “Law enforcement is not defined by political parties, but grounded in a commitment to public safety and the integrity of the profession.”
Bianco, who was elected sheriff of Riverside County in 2018, regularly appears on Fox News segments as a tough-on-crime conservative. He gained a following as an outspoken critic of COVID-19 restrictions, refusing to enforce stay-at-home orders or vaccine mandates.
He was also once a member of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government extremist group tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt after President Donald Trump lost the presidential election in 2020. Bianco acknowledged being a dues-paying member of the organization in 2014, before becoming sheriff.
Bianco declared his candidacy for governor in February, running on a tough-on-crime platform that also calls for abolishing sanctuary protections for immigrants across California. There have been no Republicans elected to statewide positions in California since 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and insurance commissioner Steve Poizner won office.
Vice-President Kamala Harris confirmed on Wednesday that she will not run for governor, but other Democrats will.
Miyamoto’s office did not return evening messages asking for further clarification of his statement.
Miyamoto first registered to vote in San Francisco in 1999. He was a registered Democrat until re-registering as “no party preference” in 2016. In 2019, when Miyamoto successfully ran for sheriff, he re-registered as a Democrat.
Other San Francisco officials do not appear on Bianco’s list of endorsements.
A request for comment to Bianco’s press team was not returned as of press time.
Supporting a sheriff solely because he’s a sheriff? What a stupid idea. Maybe Miyamoto should move to San Mateo County once Christina Corpus – his super-well-qualified, non-corrupt, law-abiding co-equal there – finally gets removed from office.
Maybe Miyamoto can also endorse Corpus for Lieutenant Governor (or encourage her to run). J. Edgar Hoover, Heinrich Himmel and Hermann Göring were certainly some version of law and order types, as were the LAPD officers who beat the fuck out of Rodney King and so many others whose law and order stance has maimed and killed hundreds.
I certainly hope our “moderate” DCCC will not endorse our fascist fellow traveler sheriff for reelection.
Good ole boys be like…
Cop has qanon adjacent brainworms? I am shocked!
(not shocked)
time for a recall of our sheriff.
Wouldn’t you want a republican in office if you made $556k/yr?
So, good news is to vote out Miyamoto, seems fair.
Campers,
I’ve lived and voted in California for 45 years and Katie Porter is by far the best qualified candidate for Governor I’ve seen in that time.
Which is why the billionaires dumped millions late in the race to sink her campaign for U.S. Senator.
The primary reason she and Bernie Sanders don’t run away with their contests is that the average American has an IQ of 99 and can be easily manipulated to vote driven by their lowly Hate impulses ver their own self interest.
It’s called something like, ‘the Bell Curve Problem’ and made Trump our President twice.
The idea that a candidate is best because they have an LEO tag is idiotic as it takes a single semester in Junior College in Santa Clara last I looked to complete the coursework to earn that certificate and, believe me, as a perineal candidate I checked when I took out papers a couple of decades ago.
The utter stupidity of American voters has never ceased to amaze me and their low bandwidth allowed them to be manipulated to outlaw graduates of Stanford Law School from running for the job.
Which was in reaction to our own Sheriff Michael Hennessey being elected as a Reform candidate over and over for 32 years during which he made SF Jails the best in the United States with actual Reform programs like 5 Keys School offered in Lockup along with a Round Jail to fight the Rape problem.
Michael once bought me a fine bourbon at Daly’s dive bar and told me that people in San Francisco actually had no idea what his personal politics were which kinda troubled me but I’ve always tried to judge people by their works more than by their words and Sheriff Hennessey’s Work was unmatched.
As long as Sheriff Miyamoto doesn’t do a Kamiko Burton and try to dismantle Hennessey’s work he has my support.
Keep in mind that at present our own new Mayor Daniel Lurie is on the side of the Knuckle Draggers who disdain Progressive Reform and whose work increases our Criminal Population.
Hey, I’ve got decades in the business and a couple of real university degrees to back up my words.
Katie Porter for Governor !!
go Niners !!
h.
I have known Sheriff Paul Miyamoto since he first hired on in the department as a deputy.
Sheriff Miyamoto rehired Michael Kim as a deputy. He was “fired” for his role with Raymond Chow.
Chief of Staff Richard Jue, who admitted in writing to lying about an accident, was not fired but put on admin leave. He is an at-will employee and does not have the same union protections as sworn staff. While there is background chatter about alcohol and the like, merely lying like he did is grounds for termination.
Lt. Ray Winters, recently promoted to Captain, was involved with his wife in an altercation with an on-duty deputy he was having an affair with. He is also on the Brady List.
Now, Sheriff Miyamoto has endorsed a known and unapologetic MAGA Republican and extremist organization supporter.
Paul has lost his way.
Paul is very comfortable with this path and those who follow along (Ray, etc…) are continually rewarded for carrying that torch (acting in furtherance and whatnot).
Who gives a damn what he or any other cop thinks – about anything?! This is Grade-A, COP-AGANDA!
Clearly being obscenely OVER-PAID and OVER-PRAISED has gone to their heads. This idiocy combined inept politicians using over-leglistation for their weak-minded (gun-control, hate speech, etc.) constituents is shoe-horning our society into a police state.
Oath-keeper member? what the F
KEEP MAGATS OUT OF THE BAY AREA
This is a feel good Cowboy and Frisco story.
to each his own…he has a free choice to back whoever he wants…even if that person he backs is backing a pedo…it is what it is.
Harvey Milk is long gone, sport.
So we now have our very own miniMaga monster in house…
I see that he endorsed Bianco in general (as a sheriff not as a gubernatorial candidate )
but no actual proof of endorsing Bianco
for governor.
Dan —
No proof other than being listed on Bianco’s gubernatorial website under “endorsements” and Miyamoto confirming he endorsed him.
Nothing other than that, no.
JE
You wanted the sheriff that arrested the guy paddle boarding in the middle of the bay?
glad to know there is some rational thinking in San Francisco leadership
Print ridiculously slanted woke liberal biased coverage much? Adjectives like “extremist” do not belong in any news story with even a shred of objectivity, and “right wing” is clearly meant as a pejorative to close off thoughtful consideration. And to characterize Jan 6 as an insurrection is patently absurd. And to describe Oath Keepers as “anti government” is a gross oversimplification. Whoever wrote that hit piece should be ashamed of themselves.
Thats ridiculous.
They led the way w/ the Proud Boys into our Capitol.
There is no oversimplification. That group tried to tried to stop the ratification of an American election because their candidate lost.
No one associated w/ them should be anywhere near holding office.
They’re traitorous clowns.
fascistsayswhat?
So what. Position of employment does not dictate one’s personal political views. Miyamoto has just as much a right to his own free conscience as any citizen and voter, to endorse whomever he chooses, for his own personal reasons, just like yourselves, and any other registered voter, left, center or right, liberal, moderate or conservative, democrat, independent or republican or however registered. That is how a representative democracy functions.
He is endorsing the guy within his role as a public servant. An endorsement is him throwing in his support as sheriff. It ceased to be a “personal” the instant he used his position to validate his choice. Also we have just as much freedom of association as he does. If he wants support he need to show he reflects SF value. It’s up to us to decide that, not simply by virtue of incumbency. Having an oath keeper in the highest state office will absolutely impact how much impunity ICE and law enforcement in general will have. Miyamoto’s judgements show he has little regards for restalezining lawless government actions or civil liberties.
“If he wants support he need to show he reflects SF value.”
Gary, what exactly are these “SF values” that you think we have all agreed to? Where can I read the document?
I’d suggest that in fact there is a great diversity of views amongst SF voters. In fact we just elected a (by SF standards) quite right-wing Mayor and new Board of Supervisors. Was that all contrary to these “SF values” as well? Or in fact are they the new SF values?
he clearly doesn’t represent the will of the people who elected him, that’s what.
Yes he does, actually.
Not when it comes to people that are embers of that group.
The only reason Stewart Rhodes is out of jail is Trump
Vote Bianco!
Oh, hell no.
Why on earth does it matter who our sheriff supports in races far away? Or is this reverse McCarthyism?
There is a reasonable argument that we should not be electing roles like sheriff anyway. It really isn’t that political – just run the jails and courts, execute evictions and warrants, and so on.
And the one time we elected a politician to that role rather than a career LEO, it did not end well, as many may recall.
David —
How is governor of California “races far away”? San Francisco, last we checked, is in California.
Best,
JE
Fair enough but I still want to know WHY it matters whom our sheriff supports elsewhere? As long as he is doing a good job here, and I have heard no complaints, then the rest is just his personal opinion.
I prefer the SFSD chief to not be in the news every day like Mirkarimi was.
Sir —
Once again, say it with me, with feeling: THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA IS NOT “ELSEWHERE.” IT’S THE GOVERNOR OF CALI-FREAKING-FORNIA.
Best,
JE
David, the election of the sheriff goes back to our frontier days. When it was the foremost law enforcement authority in the area. Principally because federal resources were few and fleeting in service and delivery. And in much of California many of the counties are not incorporated and that makes the sheriff the only law enforcement authority available – with no municipal city council available to appoint anyone for anything. For instance much of Los Angeles county is actually unincorporated. San Francisco is the only 100% incorporated county in California which is why they’re relegated to only protecting the courts and servicing the jails. With the state (and interstate) highway system later necessitating the creation of the CHP.