So much for a quiet year in Inland Empire politics. While 2025 lacked a presidential or mid-term election, there was plenty of political news in Riverside and San Bernardino counties that could have implications locally and statewide in 2026. Here’s a look at some of the headlines and trends that shaped the Inland political landscape in 2025. Sheriff runs for governor Chad Bianco’s come a long way from his days as an underdog candidate for Riverside County sheriff. In February, the mustachioed lawman and vocal critic of Sacramento Democrats launched his 2026 bid for California governor to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Riverside. “I believe California is in desperate need of an honest, ethical, moral governor with integrity whose only interest is to serve all of California,” the two-term Republican sheriff said at the rally. “Unfortunately for my kids, destructive policies, political agendas, government overreach and regulation, radical activism and special interests have turned the California dream into a nightmare for millions of Californians.” If elected, Bianco would be California’s first GOP governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also would be the first governor to be living in the Inland Empire when he was elected. Bianco has a loyal following among conservatives who feel under siege in a state dominated by Democrats. And recent polling shows him leading a fractured field of Democrats with many voters undecided. That said, the sheriff faces an uphill battle to the governor’s mansion in deep blue California. Questions also persist about his support for President Donald Trump, inmate deaths in county jails and his past membership in the antigovernmental Oath Keepers militia. Prop. 50 blows up House districts Barring a successful court challenge, 2026 will bring a major change to how the Inland Empire is represented in Congress. After Texas lawmakers redrew their House of Representatives districts in a way that favors Republicans, California Democrats responded with Proposition 50, a statewide ballot measure passed in November that redraws the Golden State’s House districts to favor Democrats and cancel out Texas’ mapmaking. In passing the measure, voters obliterated Rep. Ken Calvert’s district, forcing the Corona Republican into a power struggle with fellow GOP incumbent Young Kim for a red district encompassing western Riverside County and part of Orange County. From left, Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona and Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, are in a power struggle to be the top GOP candidate in a new House of Representatives district representing parts of Riverside and Orange counties. (Courtesy of candidates’ campaigns) San Diego County Republican Darrell Issa, who represents Murrieta and Temecula in Congress, will seek reelection in a much bluer district after speculation he’d run for a House seat in Texas. Proposition 50 also reshuffles congressional representation for a number of Inland cities, including GOP-friendly Norco, which goes into a blue district. Why all the mid-decade redistricting? Control of the House could come down to a handful of seats, prompting Trump and GOP leaders to pressure state legislatures to create more red districts and blue state Democrats to respond in kind. Essayli becomes top prosecutor As an Inland Empire state lawmaker, Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Corona, engaged in heated clashes with Democrats and embraced culture war fights. In those respects, Essayli has much in common with the president. Essayli’s loyalty to Trump paid off in April, when he was appointed interim U.S. attorney for a district covering much of Southern California. Republican Bill Essayli went from Sacramento to the U.S. Department of Justice in April, when the Trump administration picked the Inland state lawmaker to be U.S. attorney for a district covering much of Southern California. (File photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) In his new gig, Essayli cracked down on protesters who clashed with federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles and angered critics who accused him of injecting partisan politics into the pursuit of justice. In October, a federal judge ruled that Essayli unlawfully assumed the role of U.S. attorney while allowing him to stay on as top deputy. Essayli’s Sacramento successor is already in place. Lake Elsinore City Councilmember Natasha Johnson, a Republican, won a special election in August to serve the rest of Essayli’s term in a district representing part of western Riverside County. Is the IE turning red? Democrats make up a plurality of registered voters in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. But there are encouraging signs for local Republicans, who saw Trump become the first GOP presidential candidate in 20 years to win the Inland Empire in 2024. Between October 2020 and June 2025, Republicans outpaced Democrats in adding new voters in dozens of Inland cities, including blue enclaves like Perris. Rialto and Moreno Valley. What’s behind the trend is unclear. But it may be tied to what’s happening with Latino voters, who shifted to Trump in record numbers in 2024. For the most part, the GOP’s biggest gains came in cities with sizable Latino populations. Most Latinos are about “God and family and the Democrat Party is not necessarily the best platform regarding family values,” Riverside County Republican Central Committee member Daniel Silvas of Jurupa Valley said in summer. Are Latinos the new swing vote? But before Inland Republicans can celebrate, neither major party may have a firm grasp on the Latino vote. Related links Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announces California governor run in 2026 Inland Assemblymember Bill Essayli named U.S. attorney for Southern California Donald Trump won the Inland Empire. So why did it back Prop. 50? Is the Inland Empire becoming more Republican? Here’s what the numbers say Could these Inland Empire Republicans lose their seats in 2026? Recent polling shows Trump losing ground with Latinos who helped him win back the White House. That matters in the Inland Empire, where a majority of residents are Latino. It also might explain why a majority of voters in Riverside and San Bernardino counties supported Proposition 50, which Trump opposed. It could be a pattern of Latino voters, angry about the economy, are punishing whoever’s in power, according to Mike Madrid, an expert on Latino voting behavior and a former political director for the California Republican Party. “There’s no question the Inland Empire will become more of a battleground region” going forward, Madrid said in November. “The real vacuum that exists, especially in a place like the Inland Empire, is that you have not seen a politician rise that has defined what the Latino economic agenda is.” ...read more read less