Gavin Newsom makes bold move by choosing Rob Bonta as California’s new attorney general

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to appoint Oakland Assemblyman Rob Bonta as California’s new attorney general makes history in more ways than one.

Bonta, the first Filipino American to get elected to the California State Legislature, will become California’s first Filipino American AG if the Legislature confirms the governor’s appointment. The symbolism of Newsom’s choice is especially important at a moment when we are seeing a rise in hate crimes targeting anti-Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the nation and here in California.

Yet Bonta brings more to the California Department of Justice than symbolism and representation. He brings a good deal of substance as an experienced attorney and legislator who has boldly taken on big reforms — and won. As a legislator, Bonta authored or co-authored successful bills to ban the use of for-profit private prisons, abolish cash bail, expunge old marijuana convictions from Californians’ records and require the attorney general’s office to investigate police shootings of unarmed people.

“Bonta also introduced a bill in October that would bar prosecutors from overseeing an investigation into police misconduct if law enforcement unions had donated to their campaigns,” wrote Hannah Wiley of The Sacramento Bee.

Time and again, Bonta has proven his willingness to stand up to law enforcement unions and push major changes to fix a criminal justice system tainted by decades of systemic racism. With Bonta, Californians will finally get an attorney general who is willing to stand up to police groups when necessary.

“Growing up with parents steeped in social justice movements, Rob has become a national leader in the fight to repair our justice system and defend the rights of every Californian,” Newsom said in a statement. “And most importantly, at this moment when so many communities are under attack for who they are and who they love, Rob has fought to strengthen hate crime laws and protect our communities from the forces of hate. He will be a phenomenal attorney general, and I can’t wait to see him get to work.”

Bonta is an immigrant of sorts. He was born in Quezon City in the Phillippines to an American father and a Filipina mother and came to the United States at 2-months-old. He spent time living with his family in Kern County — “in a trailer, a stone’s throw away from the home of Cesar Chavez,” Bonta said — before moving to Fair Oaks.

He then went on to obtain a law degree from Yale University before returning to California to start his career. He worked as an attorney in the private sector, served as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco and got elected to the Alameda City Council before winning an Assembly seat in 2012.

In the Legislature, he has bucked powerful political interests and distinguished himself as a champion of bold legislation to help everyday people.

“I became a lawyer because I saw the law as the best way to make a positive difference for the most people, and it would be an honor of a lifetime to serve as the attorney for the people of this great state,” Bonta said in a statement. “As California’s attorney general, I will work tirelessly every day to ensure that every Californian who has been wronged can find justice and that every person is treated fairly under the law.”

During a press conference with Newsom on Wednesday, Bonta pledged to push for reform, but also said he’d work to build up trust between California’s communities and its law enforcement officers.

Bonta mentioned his parents more than once during the press conference and said his parents taught him to “fight injustice, to right wrongs and help people.”

It sounds like a great motto for an attorney general. Bonta lived up to these words as a state legislator. He must continue this good work as California’s 34th top cop.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 3:35 PM.