2026 California Republican Assembly Convention

California Republicans gathered in Anaheim as the race for governor begins to take shape. Party members met for their annual convention, where candidates outlined their visions for the state ahead of the June primary. NTD's Christina Corona reports from Anaheim, California. The California Republican Assembly held its 2026 annual convention at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim. Members elected party officials and debated key resolutions ahead of the 2026 race. Several gubernatorial candidates, including former Fox host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, also spoke at the event. The convention comes as Republicans begin positioning themselves for the June primary. Candidates outlined their priorities on issues ranging from homelessness to public safety. Among them, former Fox News contributor Steve Hilton addressed the crowd. He currently leads the race. Common sense and sanity on homelessness. It's very simple. One, enforce the law. It is illegal to live and camp on the streets. It's always been illegal. If local leaders won't enforce the law, I will. I will use state law enforcement resources to get people off the streets. Number two, get them into mental health treatment. Number three, get them into addiction treatment. Hilton also outlined plans to cut state spending and reverse policies he says have driven up costs. We are going to end Gavin Newsom's outrageous $20 billion a year free health care for illegal immigrants. So we cut health care costs and wait times for Californians. He also focused on boys and girls sports. Common sense and sanity in California. What are you talking about biological boys and girls sports? How have we put up with this for so long? How have we put up with it for so long? We save girls sports in California and save our society from the outrageous obscenity of boys and girls sports and locker rooms and spaces. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco centered his campaign on public safety. For public safety, we will actually make crime a crime again in this state. Every single prison that leaves them closed, there's five, he's about to close two more, I will reopen on day one. Bianco also addressed water policy and agriculture. If government controls our food and our water, they control the people. And that's what we have right now. With me as your governor, we will build many dams and reservoirs to hold surface water. We will provide farmers with 100% of the water that they need for their agriculture. Gubernatorial candidate, pastor and author Che Aon of Pasadena says his campaign centers on faith. Because it really issues a sin promise, a rebellion promise against God. God is nowhere in the picture in Sacramento and I want to bring God and that's why I'm running on faith, family and freedom. I'm bringing God back into Sacramento, back into the state of California. Businessman and gubernatorial candidate Leo Zaki turned his attention to election integrity, criticizing the state's vote counting timeline. Because it's about who counts the vote, right? That's why we need 36 days to calculate the vote with unsolicited mail-in ballots, which is why we're going to put a stop to that. We're going to make sure that California voters get it done in one day. Get it counted that night, records to make out for every single thing. County officials will begin mailing ballots on May 4th for the June 2nd primary. Reporting from Anaheim, California, Christina Corona, NTD News.