Attorney General
California’s top cop carries out the governor’s law enforcement directives. The attorney general’s job touches almost every facet of life in California, from the environment to its tech sector and consumer protections. During both Trump administrations, the attorney general’s office led high-profile lawsuits defending policies favored by California Democrats.
Candidates
Rob Bonta
Bonta was appointed attorney general in 2021 and was elected to a four-year term in 2022. Before that, he was an assemblymember representing parts of the East Bay. As attorney general, Bonta spent much of his first term enforcing housing and criminal justice laws passed in the early 2020s, including laws compelling recalcitrant cities to build new housing. Since the reelection of Donald Trump, Bonta has filed or joined more than 50 lawsuits against his administration.
Michael E. Gates
Gates, a former trial attorney, served as Huntington Beach city attorney for a decade. In that role, he challenged what he viewed as lenient criminal justice policy emanating from the state capital. He also fought elements of the new housing laws that would have compelled Huntington Beach to build more affordable housing. In 2025, Gates was appointed a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, a job he left in November when he returned to the Huntington Beach city attorney’s office.
Endorsements
Rob Bonta
Michael E. Gates
Campaign finance
Candidate committees
Candidates raise money to run for office through their campaign committees. The committees must identify large donors who give $100 or more. In the tables below, we exclude small donors whose contributions total less than $100 and any transfers from a candidate’s previous campaign committee for a different race. Contribution limits vary by office and type of donor.
- Large donors
- Small donors
- Self-funding
- Difference to opponent
Rob Bonta
Michael E. Gates
Outside spending
Separate from candidate committees, outside groups can pay for ads, mailers and other efforts to influence voters. They can’t coordinate that spending with candidate committees. There is no limit on how much they can spend.
- Support
- Oppose
- Difference to opponent
Rob Bonta
