Watch the interview here. AI Generated Transcript below.

As a California pastor and candidate for governor, how did you feel hearing you were the clear winner of the California Governor’s Showdown debate?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
First of all, thank you for having me on and for your kind words. I honestly didn’t know there had been a poll taken after the Governor’s Showdown event until you told me. To hear that I was chosen as the clear winner by such a large margin is very humbling.

I don’t walk away from something like that thinking, “Wow, I’m amazing.” I walk away sensing the grace of God. I genuinely feel the presence of the Holy Spirit helping me, even in conversations like this. That’s why, as a pastor, my immediate heart response is to bless people and to pray for them.

I know people in California are going through shaking, turmoil, confusion, and fear. So I often stop and pray that God’s kingdom—His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit—would touch those who are listening, and that He would even guide them as they discern who should be the next governor of California.

Watch Take Your Power Back California Governor Showdown

How did God call you to run for California governor in the 2026 election?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
On April 28, I had a profound experience. I didn’t hear an audible voice or see a vision, but I had an overwhelming inner impression from the Holy Spirit: Lay everything down and run for governor of California.

My immediate reaction was, “God, please not this. It’s impossible for a Republican, conservative pastor like me to win in California. Don’t ask me to do this.” And the Lord spoke to my heart, “I am the God of the impossible. With Me, all things are possible.”

Running for governor was not on my radar. I’ve been a pastor for 46 years. I love pastoring. I love my church family. I also lead a large nonprofit network that serves in 70-plus nations. On top of that, I’m a businessman, and I actually make more money from my “tentmaking” business than I do as a pastor. That allows me to turn my pastoral salary back into the ministry—and I’ve been doing that for about 15 years.

So I’m not running because I need a job or because I have political ambition. I’ve never been involved in politics. I love Jesus, I love my family, and I love serving the Church. But God called me to the “government mountain,” and I had to say yes in obedience, even though everything in the natural looked impossible.

You’ve mentioned a “Gideon fleece.” How did a visit to the White House confirm your call to run for governor?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
When I sensed the Lord calling me to run, I asked for what I call a “crazy fleece,” like Gideon in the book of Judges. I said, “Lord, if this is really You, I want to be invited by President Trump to the White House.”

For context: I had met President Trump twice in 2024—once at Mar-a-Lago and once in Atlanta with a group of about 80 pastors. I was asked to be one of four people to pray for him there. But I had never been to the White House.

Three days after I threw that fleece, I received an email—which I first thought was spam—officially inviting me to the National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden on May 1. It included all the security details: bring my passport, which gate to enter, etc.

So three days after I prayed that prayer, I’m standing just a few feet away from President Trump in the White House Rose Garden as he signs an executive order on religious freedom. You can’t make that up. That was God’s confirmation.

At that point, I told the Lord, “Okay, I’ll run. It still looks impossible, but I know You’re the God of the impossible,” and that gave me the courage and faith to say yes.

As a California pastor, author, and businessman, how do you support yourself—and why are you refusing the governor’s salary if elected?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
I often use the term “tentmaking” like the apostle Paul, who made tents to support his ministry. For me, my tentmaking includes my business work and my writing. I’ve authored 17 books, and all my royalties go through that business structure.

On the advice of my attorney and financial advisor, I set up a small business (an LLC/S-corp). That allows me to pay myself from that entity and legally minimize how much of my income goes into Sacramento’s tax machine. Why? Because I don’t want another cent of my money funding abortion, radical gender ideology, and unlawful policies in California.

My wife and I live to give. Our goal is to give away 90% of everything we receive. Right now, by God’s grace, we’re at about 71%. So when I say I’m not running for governor as a career move, I mean it.

In fact, I’ve pledged publicly that if I become governor of California, I will turn my entire governor’s salary back to help the poor. We have roughly 35% of Californians living in poverty, and we’re the fourth-largest economy in the world. That’s a moral failure of leadership. I want even my salary to be a prophetic sign: government should serve the people, not enrich itself at their expense.

What is your vision for restoring righteousness, law and order, and public safety in California?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
The Bible says in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation.” In California right now, we are seeing the opposite—unrighteousness and injustice. Bad laws and failed policies coming out of Sacramento are harming everyday people.

Take crime, for example. With Proposition 47, many felonies were reduced to misdemeanors. People can steal your car or rob your house, and it’s a misdemeanor. You see people going into CVS with calculators and stealing up to $950 because they know it won’t be treated as a serious crime. Our courts are jammed with misdemeanors, and there’s no real enforcement.

At the same time, Governor Newsom has closed four prisons and effectively put those people back on the street. We now have around 187,000 homeless individuals, many of whom are addicts or former offenders whose sentences were reduced. This is directly tied to failed policies.

The people of California responded with Proposition 36 to restore sanity and make certain crimes felonies again—and it passed with about 70% support. Yet Newsom hasn’t funded it. As governor, he controls the budget, and he has not released a single dollar to county law enforcement to help enforce the law.

My commitment as governor is to enforce the laws that Californians have already voted for, fully fund public safety, and end this “defund the police” mindset. The state constitution and the U.S. Constitution both say government’s first duty is to protect its citizens—from crime, from enemies within, and from threats without. We will restore that duty and make California safe again.

How will you address California’s high gas prices, environmental regulations, and cost of living while still caring for the environment?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
We’ve been hijacked by extreme environmental ideology. I believe we should care for God’s creation. As Christians, we’re called to be good stewards of the earth. No one likes pollution; I want clean air and clean water. But environmental policy must be balanced with the wellbeing of people.

California has enough crude oil and natural gas—just in Kern County alone—to meet our own energy needs. We consume about 30 million gallons of gasoline every day, yet we import roughly 60% of our petroleum from places like Saudi Arabia. That’s absurd. It drives up gas prices and makes us dependent on foreign sources.

We’re also over-regulated by laws like CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act). In practice, CEQA has become a “California Environmental Destruction Act,” blocking needed housing and infrastructure. We use only about 5% of California’s land for housing, yet we’re building far below what we need—around 70,000 homes a year when we should be at 500,000 just to catch up.

On top of that, we’re mismanaging water. We could dredge the Delta and better manage our water storage, but environmental extremists block common-sense solutions—sometimes over a non-native fish—while our farmers in places like Fresno County suffer from water shortages.

Under my leadership, we will:

• Balance environmental stewardship with human flourishing.
  
• Use our own natural resources responsibly to lower gas and energy costs.
  
• Reform CEQA so we can build homes and infrastructure without endless lawsuits.
  
• Invest in water storage, dams, and infrastructure that voters already approved, but Sacramento failed to implement.
  

I want California to be affordable again—lower gas prices, lower utility bills, and more housing—without abandoning stewardship of God’s creation.

Why do you believe California has such high poverty and unemployment despite having the world’s fourth-largest economy?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
If California were its own country, we’d rank right behind the United States, China, and Germany, with about a $4.1 trillion GDP. Yet around 35% of Californians live in poverty, and our unemployment rate is higher than the national average. The U.S. sits at roughly 4.5%; we’re around 5.5%.

That gap is not an accident—it’s the result of mismanagement, over-regulation, and anti-business policies. We’re driving small businesses and middle-class families out of the state. Our tax burden, fees, and regulations are crushing entrepreneurs and job creators.

I agree with you: it looks like a direct assault on the middle class—the people who build, innovate, and don’t want government controlling every part of their lives. When you hollow out the middle class, you create a dependent population that’s easier to manipulate with fear and “freebies.”

We can reverse this by:

• Cutting red tape and excessive regulation that strangles businesses.
  
• Lowering taxes where possible to attract and retain jobs.
  
• Supporting small businesses instead of punishing them.
  
• Pursuing policies that empower families to own homes and build wealth, not just survive.
  

California should be a place where hard work leads to opportunity, not poverty.

As a California pastor who sued Governor Newsom, what did your Supreme Court religious freedom case achieve?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
In 2020, during the COVID lockdowns, Governor Newsom ordered churches to shut down and even told us we couldn’t sing when he allowed a brief reopening. That was a direct violation of our First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.

I pastor Harvest Rock Church, and we made the decision to reopen because we fear God more than man. The district attorney sent me a letter saying I could face one year in jail, and they calculated about $4.5 million in fines against our church. This is part of the Marxist “cancel” playbook: silence your opponents through fear, fines, and prison.

We sued Governor Newsom. We lost in lower courts, and we lost in the appeals court. But the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and they ruled 6–3 in our favor. Newsom was forced to pay $1.3 million in legal fees to our attorneys at Liberty Counsel.

What did that accomplish? It established a major religious freedom precedent: the government cannot arbitrarily shut down churches while allowing other entities to operate. It affirmed that our First Amendment doesn’t disappear in a crisis. That’s why many people now know me as the pastor who sued Newsom—and won—at the Supreme Court.

As governor, I will defend religious freedom in California, not attack it.

What will you do as governor to protect parental rights, children, and education in California?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
Right now, California is pushing radical gender ideology on children, starting in the early grades. We’re seeing the tragic fruit: teen suicide is now a leading cause of death among 10–18-year-olds in our state, and a big part of that, I believe, is the confusion and pressure being pushed on them.

We spend more per student—around $26,000—than any other state, yet our academic performance is near the bottom in reading and math. That’s not just bad; it’s immoral.

Laws like AB 1955 and policies driven by the teachers’ unions and Governor Newsom make it illegal for Christian principals and teachers to even notify parents if a child wants to change their pronouns or “gender identity.” That is totalitarian. It cuts parents out of the most critical decisions in their children’s lives.

As a pastor, I have compassion for anyone struggling with gender dysphoria. But compassion does not mean lying. There are two biological sexes, male and female. Speaking truth in love, as Jesus taught in John 8:32, is what truly sets people free and helps them overcome confusion, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

As governor, I will:

• Restore parental rights in education.
  
• Require transparency about curricula and policies that affect children’s identity and mental health.
  
• Roll back laws that criminalize or punish parents, pastors, and teachers for speaking truth in love.
  
• Refocus education on excellence in reading, math, science, and civics—not ideological indoctrination.
  

We must protect children, honor parents, and put families first in California education.

How do you respond to Christians in California who say they don’t vote because they “don’t want to vote against God”?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
That argument doesn’t make biblical sense. The Constitution doesn’t say “separation of church and state” the way people use it. The founders wanted to prevent the state from controlling the church—not believers from influencing government.

John Adams said this Constitution is made for a moral and religious people. In other words, self-government only works if people are guided by biblical morality. That means believers must lead the way in engaging civically.

Jesus called us to be salt and light. In His day, salt preserved food from decay. We are called to preserve society from moral decay. Being “light” means doing good works that glorify God. Voting for righteous, principled leaders is a good work. It’s one way we love our neighbor and contribute to the health of our community.

Right now, we have about 6 million evangelicals in California. Roughly 3 million of them are not even voting. One of the silly reasons is people don’t want to be called for jury duty. That’s not a biblical reason; that’s avoiding responsibility.

I believe we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of how we stewarded our influence—including whether we used our vote to resist injustice and protect the vulnerable. Not voting doesn’t make you more spiritual; it actually makes you complicit in the outcome.

Do you really believe a Republican, conservative Christian can win the California governor election in 2026?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
In the natural, I understand the skepticism. Democrats have a registration advantage, and the left has spent enormous amounts of money to keep California blue. But a few key things have changed:

• Since 2024, roughly one million people have switched and registered as Republicans in California. Many are conservative Democrats and independents who are tired of woke ideology.
  
• President Trump won about 41% of the California vote in 2024—far more than the 25% Republican registration—showing that a significant number of Democrats and independents will vote conservative when they’ve had enough.
  
• Ten counties turned red in the last cycle. There is a conservative backbone in this state.
  

I believe there is a clear path—if the Church wakes up. If Christian voters in California register, show up in primaries and general elections, and vote biblical values, we can turn this state around in one or two election cycles.

I often say: if the Church will get behind me, I will win. I’m not saying that arrogantly. I’m saying it in faith. I’ve already seen God help me take down the “bear” of Newsom in the Supreme Court. I’ve seen Him provide millions of dollars over the years for major nonprofit projects. Like David, I’ve faced the lion and the bear—so I’m not afraid of this Goliath.

With God, all things are possible. But believers must do their part: register, vote, and stand.

How will you address homelessness and government corruption differently than current California leadership?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
Homelessness should never have been turned into a bloated, permanent government industry. It should be tackled primarily through local, private, and faith-based solutions—with appropriate government partnership, not control.

Right now, we’re dumping billions into homelessness with very little accountability. In Los Angeles alone, there was a lawsuit involving about $2.5 billion in homeless funding, and city leaders literally said they didn’t know where the money went. No invoices. No receipts. Bureaucrats making $300,000–$400,000 a year have no incentive to solve the crisis; their jobs depend on the problem continuing.

On top of that, declaring California a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigration and radical gender policies is directly defying federal law and the Constitution. That mindset—“We’re a law unto ourselves”—is lawless at its core.

As governor, I will:

• Audit and reform homelessness spending from top to bottom.
  
• Shift resources toward proven local, nonprofit, and faith-based programs that actually help people off the streets.
  
• Enforce the law consistently instead of selectively.
  
• End sanctuary-state extremism and restore respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
  

We must bring common sense, accountability, and compassion—with results, not just rhetoric.

What happened to the $4.5 million in fines against your church—and what will you do for churches still being targeted?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
The $4.5 million in fines were connected to my decision to reopen our church during the lockdowns. The state threatened jail time and massive fines. Ultimately, after we won at the Supreme Court, Governor Newsom’s administration had to settle and pay $1.3 million in legal fees to our attorneys. Those fines against us are no longer hanging over our heads because the Supreme Court ruling set a clear precedent.

However, there are churches—like Calvary Chapel in San Jose—that are still being harassed and fined over COVID-era restrictions. In my view, those local government officials are acting unconstitutionally and must be challenged. I believe some of these cases deserve counter-suits against officials who knowingly violate First Amendment rights.

We have excellent legal groups like Liberty Counsel and Pacific Justice Institute that will take many of these cases pro bono. They get paid when they win and the other side is forced to cover legal fees.

When I’m governor, one of my first acts will be an executive order to end this nonsense, stop the harassment of churches, and where possible, pursue restitution for ministries that have been wrongfully targeted for simply obeying God and exercising their constitutional rights.

How can California voters learn more about your campaign for governor and get involved?

Pastor Ché Ahn:
The best way to learn more and get involved is to visit my campaign website: che4ca.com — that’s C-H-E, the number 4, C-A dot com.

On the site, you’ll see what I plan to do on Day One as governor. One of my first acts will be to call believers across California to a day of fasting and prayer. Based on 2 Chronicles 7:14, we will humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways—asking Him to forgive our sins and heal our land.

If you’re not a believer, you’re not forced to participate. But as a follower of Jesus, I know that without God’s mercy, no policy or program will truly fix California. We need both righteous leadership and a spiritual awakening.