Photo from Rob Bonta Facebook page
CALIFORNIA Attorney General Rob Bonta is advancing to the general election in November after being the top vote-getter in the state’s primary on Tuesday, June 7.
Bonta, who was appointed to the top post in 2021, was the only Democrat in the primary race and received 57% of the vote (1,819,199) as of June 8, according to the Associated Press.
“Thank you, California! Humbled by this strong vote of confidence and the resounding message delivered by voters,” Bonta wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Tonight, we celebrate — and tomorrow, we get back to work to fight back against the right wing attacks on our values and fundamental rights. Onward to November.”
The top two vote-getters advance to the November election under California law, no matter their party affiliation.
Nathan Hochman, former federal prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney general who is the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate, came in second with 17.5% of the votes counted.
Conservative Republican Eric Early was third, with 15%, while Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, running without party affiliation, had 8% of the vote.
“As attorney general, I wake up every day and go to work to protect public safety and defend Californians’ rights,” Bonta said in a statement.
“No Department of Justice in the country is doing more to stand up to right-wing attacks against our constitutional and legal rights — from defending abortion protections and the right to privacy to strengthening our gun safety laws,” Bonta added.
Bonta, who is the first Filipino American to hold the top lawyer post in California, was previously a state assemblymember, representing the East Bay areas of Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro.
Bonta, who was born in Quezon City, Philippines, moved to the U.S. at a young age and spent his early years living in a trailer in La Paz, in the Tehachapi Mountains outside Bakersfield, California.
Prior to his election to the state Assembly in 2012, Bonta was San Francisco’s deputy city attorney for nearly a decade, and served as director of the Alameda Health Care District and then part of Alameda’s City Council as vice mayor.
The state’s general election will be held on November 8. n
