On December 6, 2025, Fox News published an exclusive interview with 1980s and ’90s action star Lorenzo Lamas (known for roles in shows like Falcon Crest and Renegade). For the first time in his long career, Lamas publicly endorsed a political candidate: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running for governor of California in 2026.
Lamas did not hold back in his criticism of current Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, whose administration he blames for many of the state’s biggest problems.
“The impact on the state of California with the current [Newsom] administration is nothing short of devastating,” Lamas told Fox News Digital.
Why Lamas Decided to Speak Out Now
The actor explained that he has usually stayed quiet about politics because Hollywood can punish people who disagree with the industry’s mostly liberal views.
“Over the years I’ve been very careful about voicing an opinion politically,” he said. “Sometimes it can affect who you work for, depending on a company’s or studio’s political point of view.”
But he now feels the situation is too serious to stay silent.
“But I think we’re at a point now, not just in California, but I think nationwide, that we have to start at least voicing what we feel is wrong with what’s happening,” Lamas explained.
Homelessness and Missing Money
Lamas pointed to California’s huge homelessness crisis and questioned where billions of taxpayer dollars have gone.
“We have to figure out what we’re going to do with the people that are disenfranchised and living on the streets,” he said. “The programs that supposedly are budgeted for these folks—where is that money? … There’s nobody that’s accounting for the millions of dollars that are spent on welfare programs that’s not benefiting anybody that can use it.”
Wildfires and Government Red Tape
Lamas grew up in the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Recent wildfires destroyed his childhood home and even his old elementary school.
“I grew up in Pacific Palisades; that fire devastated my hometown. The home I grew up in burned down. My elementary school burned down. Why? Because not enough budget was allocated to resources to fight the fire,” he said.
He also criticized how slow and complicated it is for fire victims to rebuild.
“The people that lost their homes in the Palisades—many of them were second-, third-generation people. They cannot afford to rebuild in the city that they grew up in, the city that they came to love,” Lamas said. “It takes years to get rebuilding plans approved. There’s just so much red tape, so much bureaucracy, and Chad wants to just eliminate it.”
Crime and Public Safety
As a father of two daughters who live in Los Angeles, Lamas is especially worried about rising crime.
“I have two daughters that live in Los Angeles, and I tell them every single day [that] their heads got to be on a swivel,” he said. “You see all the crime that’s rampant, not just in California but all around the country. It’s permeating this beautiful nation of ours, and it really makes me sick.”
He believes Sheriff Bianco, a career law-enforcement officer, is the right person to fix it.
“We’ve got to have a governor that’s pro-law enforcement, that’s going to keep our moms and our daughters safe on the streets,” Lamas said. “I believe [Bianco] is the man that can really turn this thing around.”
“Common Sense” Appeal
Lamas thinks Bianco can reach voters across party lines because he talks in a straightforward way that most people understand.
“What I see in Chad is a tremendous gift of being able to present his agenda with a commonsense foundation, and that’s going to appeal to anybody with half of a brain,” he said.
He connected it to the 2024 presidential election, adding, “Last November 6th, America voted for commonsense. And I think it’s time that California votes for commonsense, and the only person that I really feel can bring that to our state is Chad Bianco.”
The Political Reality in California
California has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. The state is considered “deep blue,” and Democrats currently running include U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Rep. Katie Porter—both strong progressives.
Despite the long odds, Lamas and Bianco’s other supporters (including UFC legends Royce Gracie and Dan Henderson) believe 2026 could be different.
Newsom’s Office Responds
When Fox News asked Governor Newsom’s team to respond to Lamas’s strong criticism, a spokesperson simply replied with one word: “Who?”
In short, Lorenzo Lamas has broken his long political silence to endorse Sheriff Chad Bianco, arguing that California’s homelessness, crime, wildfire response, and government bureaucracy have gotten so bad under Governor Newsom that voters need a dramatic change in leadership.
