In a primary race with multiple candidates, it is common for one with less name recognition to hurl comments at the leader in order to gain greater attention and try to improve their chances of winning a squeaky race.

So one might expect one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates to fling a barb or two at Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, currently the front runner for the Republican 2026 gubernatorial nomination.

However, two weeks ago, Democratic candidate, Stephen Cloobeck, filed a lawsuit claiming Bianco is “…abusing his position as the Sheriff of Riverside County and violating California law in connection with his campaign for governor of the State of California.”

Specifically, Cloobeck argues that Bianco is violating California Government Code Section 3206 when he wears his uniform during political activities such as campaigning or fund raising.

Section 3206 states “No officer or employee of a local agency shall participate in political activities of any kind while in uniform.”

The first instance of this violation, according to the litigation, was Bianco’s campaign announcement on February 17. Cloobeck includes several photos of Bianco campaigning at different events while wearing a uniform or clothing identifying him as Riverside County Sherriff.

“The frequency and constancy of Sheriff Bianco wearing his Riverside County Sheriff’s uniform demonstrates that his campaign wardrobe choice is not accidental, but rather a continuing and deliberate effort by Sheriff Bianco and others to abuse his current position as an officer or employee of Riverside County for his own personal political advantage, including over other gubernatorial candidates,” the lawsuit alleges.

“No one is above the law, we expect our elected officials to comply with the law they are responsible for enforcing, and we will hold them accountable when they fail to do so,” wrote Craig Marcus, Cloobeck’s attorney in the filing, in an email to the Town Crier.

Cloobeck says in the filed papers that he addressed this issue with Bianco in June during a joint interview, but his notice was ignored and consequently he has filed an official lawsuit against Bianco’s use of his position as a political campaign advertisement.

His lawsuit asks for both a judicial declaration as well as injunctive relief to prohibit Bianco from wearing his Riverside County Sheriff’s uniform, or any portion thereof, while engaged in any political activities during the remainder of the gubernatorial campaign. Cloobeck wants the court to order Bianco not wear his uniform during political events where he is making campaign speeches, conducting interviews in which he references his gubernatorial campaign; posting images or videos on social media of himself while referencing his gubernatorial campaign; or posting images on his campaign website of him in uniform.

Nick Mirman, a spokesperson for Bianco, told Politico’s “California Playbook” on Sept. 5, “If Democrat Stephen Cloobeck thinks that Stephen Cloobeck can increase his name ID and Democratic bonafides by using lawfare against the Bianco campaign, then Stephen Cloobeck is sorely mistaken.”

Earlier this year, Cloobeck also filed a lawsuit against his Democratic political rival, Antonio Villaraigosa, for describing himself as a “problem solver.”

The California Primary for the 2026 Gubernatorial race will be June 2, 2026.