Bianco campaign fundraises off Supreme Court ballot fight ahead of Monday’s arguments

Sheriff Chad Bianco's campaign is asking supporters for money ahead of Monday's California Supreme Court arguments over his seizure of ballots from the November 2025 special election, calling Attorney General Rob Bonta's legal challenge "pure lawfare."

The fundraising email, sent by the Bianco for Sheriff campaign and reviewed by News Channel 3, claims an audit found 45,896 more votes counted than ballots received and says Bonta went to court "not to challenge the merits of the investigation, but to shut it down entirely."

Court records tell a fuller story. The figures cited in the email originated with the Riverside Election Integrity Team, a community group whose review was based on public records requests, according to the attorney general's writ petition.

The petition notes no election contest was ever filed over the results.

The email says two lower courts "rejected" Bonta.

The Court of Appeal denied his petition solely because he had a remedy in Superior Court, according to a declaration filed by his office. The email does not mention the Supreme Court granted Bonta's petition for review April 8 and ordered Bianco to pause his investigation.

That order remains in effect.

The email also claims Bonta has spent $250,000 in taxpayer money on the case. News Channel 3 has not been able to independtly verify the figure.

The court hears arguments at 10 a.m. in San Francisco. Bonta will argue both his own case and in support of Riverside County voters suing Bianco, whose cases will be heard back to back.

The ruling will decide the fate of roughly 650,000 seized ballots and the attorney general's authority over California's sheriffs.