This may be the only candidate who can give Attorney General Rob Bonta a race in November

Gov. Gavin Newsom made history last year when he appointed Rob Bonta attorney general to succeed Xavier Becerra, who left Sacramento to become President Joe Biden’s health and human services secretary. Bonta is the first Filipino American to serve as attorney general, a distinction he previously held in the Legislature.

In slightly more than a year as attorney general, Bonta has taken the office in a more progressive direction. He has subpoenaed ExxonMobil as part of a broader investigation of the petroleum industry. He has adopted a stronger posture on state housing laws, launching a new office to crack down on scofflaw local governments that brazenly refuse to comply with reforms. And on Monday, the Associated Press reported that Kings County prosecutors had dropped murder charges against a woman in the stillborn death of her child after Bonta’s office found the state’s “fetal murder law was only intended to criminalize violence done to pregnant women that caused fetal death — not the women themselves.”

Bonta is undoubtedly a solid candidate for a full term as attorney general in the November general election. But for the time being, he is just Newsom’s choice for the job — not the choice of California voters.

Bonta is likely to face one challenger this fall as a result of next month’s top-two primary, and the best candidate to make it a contest of contrasting styles and experiences is Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.

Bonta should have to work hard to earn election to a four-year term. But that’s unlikely if either of his two Republican challengers advance to the fall.

Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, seems slightly more plausible and less extreme than his fellow Republican Eric Early, an attorney in private practice. But California has not elected a Republican attorney general since 1995, and neither candidate has the charisma or the ideas to buck that trend.

Still, it will be difficult for Schubert to finish in the top two of the primary without an “R” or “D” next to her name on the ballot. She is a former Republican who entered the race with no party preference.

In 2018, Steve Poizner, who was running for insurance commissioner, became the first such unaffiliated candidate to place in the top-two primary. He was defeated in the general election by Democrat Ricardo Lara.

During her two terms as Sacramento district attorney, Schubert gained notoriety for her substantial role in securing the arrest and 2020 conviction of Joseph James DeAngelo, the notorious Golden State Killer, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole on 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping to commit robbery. DeAngelo is believed to have committed 50 rapes over a 12-year period in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Though not as polished as Bonta, Schubert has been crisscrossing the state for months and is widely supported by law enforcement officials, organizations, prosecutors and crime victims. Schubert made history in her own right in 2014 as the first openly gay candidate elected to countywide office in Sacramento.

As the incumbent backed the majority party of California, Bonta played it safe in his endorsement interview with The Bee’s Editorial Board. He gave Schubert an opening when he took a pass on stating that domestic violence should be classified as a violent crime, which would make it more difficult for convicts to get reduced prison time.

“I think it is important to follow the data to determine what crimes are violent,” Bonta said. He added that ”we need to be open to domestic violence being included as a violent crime” but went no further.

Schubert pounced. “Attorney General Bonta has voted for bills that allow diversion for domestic violence and hate crimes,” she said. “If we really want to be a champion of women’s rights, we ought to call them what they are: violent crimes. “

Violent crime has surged in the pandemic era, making public safety, crime prevention and equal justice top of mind for many voters. The attorney general’s race provides a forum for meaningful discussions on these issues, and the public would be best served if Bonta and Schubert are the two candidates debating them until November.

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 11:50 AM.