STATE: Attorney General

(Sacbee.com) Elected by California voters in 2022, Bonta says court challenges have been highly effective; his office has recovered or protected $200 billion in federal funds Trump tried to withhold. He also has a strong record of enforcing state housing regulations and renter protections, investigating reports of civil rights abuses and taking on antitrust cases. In 2024, Bonta and Newsom settled a state lawsuit against the city of Elk Grove for violating California’s housing laws when the city denied a needed supportive housing project. We applauded Bonta at the time.

The settlement required Elk Grove to pay $150,000 in attorney fees and identify new sites for affordable housing.

“We can’t solve California’s homelessness crisis without creating new housing and supportive services,” Bonta said at the time. “Elk Grove is not immune to this challenge, and the city’s decision to block these efforts — wasting valuable time and resources — is especially shameful.”

Affordable housing units are too often and too easily killed at the local level by elected leaders and bureaucrats. If anything, we wish Bonta had been more aggressive with Elk Grove and other cities because the need for affordable housing in California is dire.

In addition, Bonta was also among the attorneys general who won a jury verdict against Ticketmaster/Live Nation for operating a monopoly that gouged customers. Bonta is also coordinating an antitrust review of the $110 billion merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance.

Politico recently reported that Bonta has emerged as “a key backstop against a transaction (some) worry could not only embolden Paramount — whose CEO David Ellison has cultivated ties with President Donald Trump — but also trigger sweeping staff reductions and accelerate the sort of media consolidation that harms consumers and creative talent alike.”

In this race, Bonta’s opponents are Republican Michael Gates and Marjorie Mikels, a self-described peace candidate representing the Green Party. Neither of Bonta’s opponents is fit for office. Mikels isn’t qualified and Gates’ past work and positions on key issues, or lack thereof, are outside the mainstream of California.

(cahighways.org) Before serving as Attorney General, Bonta spent more than eight years serving in the State Assembly. Before that, he worked as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, where he represented the City and County and its workers, and fought to protect Californians from exploitation. Before that he worked in private practice, where he protected Californians from racial profiling. Bonta was the first person of Filipino descent to serve as California Attorney General. Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Bonta immigrated to California with his family as an infant. Bonta grew up and attended public school in California before working his way through Yale University and earning his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
(Source: AG Bio)

On his campaign website, he states that his goals are to keep standing up to stop unlawful power grabs by the federal government, defend our immigrant communities, protect reproductive freedom, hold greedy corporations accountable, keep our communities safe from gun violence and fentanyl trafficking, safeguard our environment, and so much more. The site notes that whenever Trump and his administration attack our California, he steps up to defend Californians — taking the President to court more than 50 times in the past year to defend our most fundamental rights and protect billions of dollars in critical federal funding. Every single time Trump breaks the law or violates the Constitution, Rob sues — period.

I’ll note that I get the Attorney General’s newsletter, and he is keeping on top of the fight.

He has a large number of endorsements, including the governor, both senators, the Democratic members of the Congress from California, the Democratic members of the Assembly and Senate, and major city mayors. He also has backing from unions, labor leaders, and other progressive groups.

Election Forum/Craig Huey Questionnaire for an Attorney General

• Endorsed…Giving you a 3 to 5 star rating
• Not endorsed…Giving you a 1 to 2-star rating
• Refused to disclose position…Usually a 1 to 2-star rating

I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully giving you our endorsement.

1. What is your name, and what office are you running for?
2. How could the legal system be improved? Please provide your top 2-3 ideas.
3. What well-known District Attorney (living or deceased) do you most admire and why?
4. What are your views of the legal philosophies and actions of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland? To what degree, if any, do you believe these men have politicized their offices?
5. Do you believe there is such a thing as a “woke” District Attorney or a “woke” Attorney General? If so, what do you believe is their legal philosophy, and what is your opinion of their legal philosophy and actions?
6. What is your opinion regarding the use of homeschooling as a choice by parents for the education of their children?
7. Many lawsuits have been filed against Christian bakers, florists, and photographers over refusing to violate their conscience on the marriage issue. How do you view religious liberty/civil rights tension, and how should this tension be resolved?
8. Do you believe all laws should be enforced as written, or do you believe there are certain laws that you would choose not to enforce? Which laws, if any, would you choose not to enforce?
9. Would you enforce state or local laws that restrict or prohibit abortion?
10. Do you support additional penalties if an unborn child is killed in the commission of a crime against a pregnant woman?
11. Do you believe that local law enforcement authorities should cooperate with ICE?
12. What is your legal philosophy on constitutional matters?
13. What do you believe is the basis for law?
14. Do you believe the Constitution is a living document?
15. When do you believe life begins?
16. What are your views on hate crimes? Should an additional penalty be imposed if the crime was committed based on the perpetrator’s hatred of a protected class of people?
17. Should minors accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
18. Do you believe that it should be a crime if someone fails to address someone by his or her preferred pronoun?
19. What is your understanding of criminal justice reform and restorative justice, do you support them, and why or why not?
20. Do you support truth in sentencing for violent criminals so they serve full sentences with no chance of parole?
21. Do you believe that all shoplifting and smash-and-grab crimes should be prosecuted?
22. Do you support the use of the death penalty?
23. Have you held public office previously? If yes, please list which office(s) and the years you held that office(s).
24. Do you think that parents who refuse to let their children live as a member of the opposite sex or get an abortion should be prosecuted or have their children removed from their home?
25. Published writings: If you have authored any published writings (not judicial decisions), please provide applicable links/URLs.
26. Please describe/list any pro bono or community service activities you have engaged in.
27. What person(s) and/or organization(s) have endorsed your candidacy?
28. Please detail anything else you believe would assist us in rating you as a District Attorney candidate.
29. What are your thoughts regarding the legalization of marijuana, and would you enforce local marijuana laws?
30. What are your thoughts regarding sanctuary city laws?
31. Do you believe in absolute truth? Why or why not? If you believe in absolute truth, what is the source of absolute truth? If you do not believe in absolute truth, how do you determine what is true?

(SF Chronicle – partial negative review) “Bonta’s top opponent is Republican Michael Gates, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Trump administration, who, while serving as Huntington Beach’s city attorney, repeatedly sued California and lost. He unsuccessfully challenged state housing laws in a case experts described as “batshit bananas” and also championed a local voter ID law struck down by a state appeals court.

Gates told us he would defend state laws even when he disagrees with them and would sue his former boss, Trump, if it meant protecting Californians. Yet when asked if he would enforce state laws that protect doctors who provide abortion medication to women in states that have severely restricted access from prosecution — Louisiana has sought to extradite one such Bay Area doctor — Gates said he would look at it “on a case-by-case basis.”

(CAhighways.com) Michael Gates (R) Gates began his legal career in private practice as a litigator and trial attorney defending high profile cases for police and medical doctors in malpractice cases in court, eventually becoming a partner at an Orange County law firm. After establishing himself as an accomplished trial attorney, in 2014, he left a successful private practice to serve the public as the elected City Attorney of Huntington Beach, a position he held for ten years after winning citywide elections in 2014, 2018, and 2022. In 2025, Michael was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he oversaw approximately 100 attorneys across Employment, Voting and Elections, Housing and Civil Enforcement, and Criminal sections.

According to his issues page, his focus will be full implementation of Prop 36 across the State. He writes, “The will of the people will be heard, crime will be illegal again.” Very Trumpy. He also wants to protect communities from Sacramento (he claims overreach). He wants to support law enforcement, pretty much unconditionally. He wants to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. He wants to “aggressively enforce and defend all federal laws to protect our young girls and parents in our sports and education systems.” He wants to tackle homelessness, viewing it primarily as a drug and mental illness issue. He’s concerned about election integrity and second amendment issues. He wants to enforce environmental laws at the local level.

You know what is missing from his issue page? Civil rights. Protecting the rights of citizens. Protecting the rights of legal immigrants. Protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ folks. He also doesn’t talk about protecting consumers from fraud. His focus is protecting business, not people.

Needless to say, he has loads of Republican and law enforcement endorsements.