Editorial: SF Sheriff Miyamoto’s dubious endorsement

San Francisco’s Democratic Sheriff Paul Miyamoto ran for election and reelection on a platform of increasing safety for those in custody, especially those with mental health issues. He became the city and county’s first elected Asian American sheriff when he won office in 2020 and easily secured a second term in 2024. Miyamoto has been with the sheriff’s office since 1996, rising through the ranks. He’s always struck us as someone who knows and understands San Francisco’s diverse communities.

So, we were surprised when it was recently reported that Miyamoto has endorsed MAGA Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026. It’s a dubious show of support, to be sure, and Miyamoto himself has sought to downplay it. What’s even more amazing is Miyamoto’s reasoning – that he and Bianco are law enforcement colleagues, so they should support each other. (We would be shocked if the tables were turned and Bianco had endorsed Miyamoto for governor.)

Miyamoto should rescind his endorsement instead of trying to justify it.

“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, which first reported the story. https://missionlocal.org/2025/07/chad-bianco-paul-miyamoto-california-governor/ “Law enforcement is not defined by political parties, but grounded in a commitment to public safety and the integrity of the profession.”

A few days later, Miyamoto further attempted to explain himself during an interview on KQED, the local public television station. “I don’t support him in terms of political affiliation or political party,” Miyamoto said. “This is coming from the fact that we’re both sheriffs working together in a sheriffs’ association.”

Miyamoto told the station that he and other sheriffs signed a letter of support for Bianco, but his endorsement has limits: as a professional courtesy to a fellow law enforcement officer and member of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, the nonprofit professional organization representing all of California’s 58 elected sheriffs.

What Miyamoto fails to understand is that an endorsement is an endorsement, and that’s how it appears on Bianco’s campaign website. There is Miyamoto’s name, alongside other county sheriffs. There isn’t an asterisk that notes Miyamoto doesn’t support Bianco “in terms of political affiliation of political party.” When potential voters visit Bianco’s site and look at his endorsements, they will see the name of San Francisco’s sheriff. That may lead them to believe Bianco isn’t the anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ candidate that he is. In other words, Bianco having the ability to list Miyamoto’s name among his endorsers may result in voters giving him the benefit of the doubt.

That would be wrong. Bianco has cozied up to President Donald Trump, especially on his immigration policies. Bianco states on his campaign website that he would work with the Trump administration to stop illegal border crossings and abolish sanctuary state policies and ensure local law enforcement is free to collaborate with federal partners when dealing with illegal immigrants who commit crimes. As we have seen in California since June, ICE officials have conducted numerous immigration raids that have ensnared legal residents and U.S. citizens, among others. ICE agents have targeted individuals based on race, language, and accent. The San Francisco Police Department has come under criticism from queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder for deploying officers outside immigration court, while SFPD brass have maintained that the department does not assist ICE in the enforcement of civil immigration laws.

As for the sheriff’s office, NBC Bay Area reported in July that the federal Department of Justice issued requests to some California sheriffs, including Miyamoto, to turn over lists of inmates in their jails who are not U.S. citizens, along with their alleged crimes and scheduled release dates.

Miyamoto responded to the DOJ's intentions, saying that his office would not participate in civil immigration enforcement, the station reported.

"The federal government already knows the identity and has the fingerprints of every inmate in San Francisco's jails," said Miyamoto in a statement released by his office. "If the federal government has a legal reason to arrest someone, they can do so by obtaining a criminal warrant or court order." Miyamoto said the sheriff's office will honor judicial warrants.

"My priority is public safety – not politics," Miyamoto told the station. "We will not foster fear in immigrant communities by acting as an arm of immigration enforcement."

That, of course, is directly at odds with the man he’s endorsed for governor.

On education, Bianco supports repealing Assembly Bill 1955, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed last year. AB 1955, by gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego), bans school districts from outing trans youth without their permission to their parents unless doing so is needed to protect their mental health. This law is especially critical now that transgender youth are being attacked by Trump and his administration on everything from participating in school sports to accessing gender-affirming care.

Miyamoto has long considered himself an ally to the LGBTQ community, which makes his endorsement of Bianco all the more puzzling. On issue after issue, Bianco spews the MAGA line at the expense of fairness and equity. That’s not who we need leading California.

With California being a deep blue state, it’s unlikely Bianco will win the governor’s race; at this point, he’s probably more interested finishing in the top two in next June’s primary. (California has an open primary, meaning the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of political party.)

A recent Emerson College Polling California survey had Bianco at 7% support in the primary, behind fellow Republican Steve Hilton, who had 12%. Besting both at 18% was Democratic former congressmember Katie Porter of Orange County.

Being a MAGA candidate here may not be that helpful. The Desert Sun, a newspaper in Bianco’s Riverside County, recently reported that a Civiqs poll found that in California, 29% approve of Trump, 68% disapprove, and 3% neither approve nor disapprove as of Monday, August 4. The Economist was even blunter, reporting that Trump has a net approval rating of -31.1% in the Golden State. Those numbers don’t bode well for Bianco.

Yet, in spite of knowing that California is a Democratic state, and despite securing endorsements from a bevy of Democratic political clubs in his previous races, Miyamoto is blowing up his own brand with this stupid endorsement.

Endorsements are generally made because a person supports a candidate’s policy positions. Miyamoto has said he’s not aligned with Bianco by political affiliation or political party. But his endorsement implies that he believes in Bianco’s policy positions, which are out of step with most Democrats.

Miyamoto should have had the resolve not to sign the endorsement letter. According to Bianco’s campaign site, he has endorsements from 38 county sheriffs, not including some retired sheriffs, meaning that 20 did not endorse him. That list includes gay Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto and Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, a progressive law enforcement officer in the East Bay.

In fact, other Bay Area sheriffs have not endorsed Bianco, with the exception of Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara. It’s too bad that Bianco’s website lists Miyamoto as an endorser, but it’s even worse that Miyamoto basically signed a letter because others did too.