Few California political offices offer a better springboard to higher office than that of attorney general. As state chief law enforcement officer and consumer advocate, the office is ideally positioned to appeal to voters’ needs—tough on crime but protecting civil rights.
Earlier incumbents like Jerry Brown and his father Pat Brown used the office as a stepping stone to the governorship. Kamala Harris employed it as a springboard to the U.S. Senate and eventually the vice presidency, helped in part by her connection to Joe Biden’s late son, Beau, who was the attorney general of Delaware at the same time.
Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had been angling for a 2026 governor’s run—until he jumped out, deciding to seek reelection instead.
“Being attorney general is solid and substantial on normal days,” Bonta told me over breakfast in San Francisco. “And on abnormal days, when you have a president under attack against democracy, the rule of law, and the Constitution, it’s vitally necessary.”
Bonta is a defendant in multiple lawsuits against Trump and refers to the fight as personal. His parents lived under dictatorship while he was growing up in the Philippines, and his father was a civil rights activist. Bonta is also worried about the future of same-sex marriage in the country, particularly because his oldest daughter is married to a Brazilian woman.
Bonta actually considered a governor bid after prevailing in a full term as attorney general in 2022. He sounded out voters, polled potential fund-raising prospects, and tested would-be opponents. All of it ended when Harris lost the White House.
If she had won, Bonta said, California would have had “a great partner who knows our concerns.” Now, he sees a fight simmering with Trump, whom he characterizes as a “would-be autocrat” with a grudge against California.
Bonta’s political career is directly associated with that of his family. He was born in the Philippines when his parents were missionaries there. He moved to California as an infant. His parents did not want to raise him in a dictatorship without guarantees of freedom and human rights.
Now, after decades, Bonta is fighting what he sees as the revival of authoritarianism in America. “I never imagined that I would be a public official, battling a dictator in the land where I fled to escape one,” he stated.
His anxieties are not limited to politics. His daughter Reina, a soccer player, married her wife in a rush ceremony out of fear of Trump’s potential impact on marriage equality. Bonta also wonders if his Brazilian daughter-in-law may face immigration challenges under Trump’s agenda.
After breakfast, Bonta headed out to a hearing on a judicial appointment. His career as attorney general has long eclipsed his courtroom battles with Trump—his re-election campaign is underway, and while he’s a probable winner, nobody’s quite sure yet.
And even though he isn’t running for governor in 2026, he never says never to future possibilities, providing the classic cop-out response: “Never say never.”.
At age 52, Bonta’s career is just getting started. For now, he has both a reelection fight and a political foe in Trump—one that may define his legacy.
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