Election 2026 · State of California

California Attorney General

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Rob Bonta (incumbent) and Michael E. Gates are the candidates for California Attorney General on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The Attorney General is California's chief law officer and heads the state Department of Justice, which represents the state in civil and criminal cases. The job is to see that state laws are enforced and to investigate fraud and illegal activity. The office also supervises county district attorneys and sheriffs.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

The Attorney General oversees the Los Angeles County District Attorney and Sheriff along with every other county's. By state law, the Attorney General investigates police shootings anywhere in California, including in Los Angeles, that kill an unarmed civilian (Government Code section 12525.3).

Primary results, June 2, 2026

Three candidates. Bonta won a majority, but statewide offices always go to a November runoff between the top two. Total votes for Attorney General: 8,795,850. In Los Angeles County, Bonta had 64.3%, Gates 29.7% and Mikels 5.9%. Certified by the Secretary of State in the Statement of Vote. Certified results

The candidates

The job

Powers. The state Constitution makes the Attorney General “the chief law officer of the State,” with the duty “to see that the laws of the State are uniformly and adequately enforced.” The Attorney General has “direct supervision over every district attorney and sheriff” and can prosecute a case personally when a district attorney does not adequately enforce the law (Cal. Const. art. V, sec. 13). On September 24, 2026, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld that authority in Bonta v. Bianco, ruling that the Attorney General could order the Riverside County Sheriff to halt his election investigation (Press-Enterprise).

Budget and staff. The Department of Justice has a 2026-27 budget of $1.37 billion and 6,154 positions. About $518 million comes from the state General Fund. Its largest unit is the Division of Legal Services, with 2,262 positions and $743 million (2026-27 state budget, Department of Justice). The department also runs the state’s criminal records systems, firearms enforcement, crime labs and gambling regulation (2026-27 state budget).

What the office does that touches Los Angeles.

• It must investigate every police shooting in California that kills an unarmed civilian and publish a report when it does not file charges. This took effect July 1, 2021 (DOJ, AB 1506 page). That covers LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department.
• It writes the official title and summary for every statewide ballot measure. In August 2026 a Sacramento judge upheld its summary of Proposition 39, the voter ID measure, after backers sued (LA Times).
• It enforces state housing law against cities. Bonta says his Housing Justice Team led cities to plan for more than 40,000 new homes (Orange County Register questionnaire).
• It led 12 states in a Sept. 21, 2026 antitrust settlement over the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger. The deal includes a $1.5 billion commitment to domestic film production and a $47.5 million fund for affected workers (DOJ release).

Facts that shape the job now.

• Lawsuits against the federal government. In August 2026 the office reported 82 lawsuits against the Trump administration since January 2025. Of those, 66 were still active. It reported 45 early orders and 21 final orders in the state’s favor (LA Times).
• Cost. Bonta said the office had spent close to $30 million on this work. The Legislature gave it an extra $25 million in a 2025 special session, plus $14.2 million and $23.9 million in the last two budgets (LA Times). The White House called the suits “frivolous” (LA Times).
• Money losses. A 2026 claims bill would pay $7.4 million to settle eight cases the state lost or settled. Four were challenges to gun laws, columnist Dan Walters wrote (Daily News; archived copy).

Records

Rob Bonta

Offices. Alameda City Council, 2010-2012. State Assembly, District 18, 2012-2021. Attorney General since April 2021 (Orange County Register questionnaire; DOJ bio). In the Assembly, his office bio lists a statewide tenant protection law, a ban on surprise medical bills and a ban on for-profit private prisons among his bills (DOJ bio).

Lawsuits against the Trump administration.

• 82 lawsuits from January 2025 to August 2026, plus 122 friend-of-the-court briefs and 112 comment letters. The office says the suits protected $207.1 billion in federal money, including $168 billion threatened by the January 2025 funding freeze (LA Times). These are the office’s own figures.
• The suits covered birthright citizenship, National Guard deployments in California cities, tariffs, food aid and federal funding cuts (LA Times).
• The LA Times reported the office has lost cases on transgender rights, executive power and immigration policy (LA Times).

Housing enforcement. The state sued Huntington Beach in 2023 over its housing plan, while Gates was city attorney. Huntington Beach filed a federal suit against the state and lost at trial and on appeal (Orange County Register). Bonta says the state won a court order requiring the city to adopt a compliant housing plan within 120 days. He also cites a settlement with Norwalk to repeal a ban on new housing (questionnaire).

Voter ID. The state sued Huntington Beach over its voter ID charter amendment, Measure A. An appeals court struck it down in November 2025, and the state Supreme Court declined review on January 28, 2026 (Orange County Register).

Corporate and consumer cases (his account). He lists suits against Amazon, Apple and RealPage; opioid settlements with Publicis Health and Kroger; a suit against five oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute over climate claims; and a case against ExxonMobil over plastics recycling claims. He says his office sent a cease-and-desist letter to xAI over Grok images and reached an agreement with OpenAI on its restructuring (questionnaire). The Mercury News listed a $17 billion Meta social media addiction settlement among his office’s cases (Mercury News).

Proposition 39 ballot summary. Backers of the voter ID measure sued over the title and summary his office wrote, which says the measure “prohibits citizens from voting” without government ID. Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell ruled the summary accurate on August 6, 2026 (LA Times).

Riverside ballot seizure. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s deputies seized more than 650,000 ballots in an investigation of a claimed 45,000-vote gap. Bonta ordered him to stop and sued when he did not. On September 24, 2026, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the seizure was unlawful and that Bonta had authority to order the sheriff to halt. Bianco said the ruling gave the Attorney General “unadulterated power … to stop any investigation that he wants” (Press-Enterprise).

Ethics and enforcement records.

• FPPC fine, 2024. As an Assembly member he filed four behested payment reports late: labor groups’ payments of $5,000 to $50,000 made at his request in late 2019 and early 2020, all reported Feb. 20, 2020. He paid a $200 penalty on the SEIU California report (FPPC stipulation, No. 2021-00738). The FPPC closed the case Sept. 24, 2024 (FPPC case search).
• FPPC warning letter, 2012. His 2010 City Council committee did not file its reports with the Secretary of State while he ran for Assembly, as the law requires. The FPPC closed the case with a warning once they were filed (FPPC warning letter, No. 12/495).
• Nothing found. No Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records name him. The State Bar lists him as licensee 202668, admitted October 1999, active, with no discipline (State Bar profile). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.

Michael Gates

Offices. Huntington Beach City Attorney from 2014 to early 2025, elected three times (campaign bio; Orange County Register). Deputy assistant attorney general, U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division, February to November 2025 (LA Times). His campaign says he oversaw about 100 lawyers in the employment, voting, housing and criminal sections (campaign bio).

Prosecution program. He started a city misdemeanor prosecution program in 2017. His campaign says downtown crime fell 11.5% (campaign bio). This is the campaign’s figure; no independent source was found.

Cases against the state, with results.

• Voter ID. Huntington Beach voters passed Measure A with 53% in March 2024. A trial court upheld it, but the 4th District Court of Appeal struck it down in November 2025. The state Supreme Court declined review, and the city voted to seek U.S. Supreme Court review (Orange County Register).
• Housing. The city argued that as a charter city it was exempt from state housing mandates. A federal trial court and appeals court rejected that (Orange County Register). The state Supreme Court refused to review a state appellate ruling against the city (LA Times).
• Wins. The city recovered millions of dollars in redevelopment loan money for a waterfront project and a senior housing project (LA Times). Gates called his record against the state “kind of a mixed bag” (FOX40).
• Other suits. The city sued the state over its sanctuary law (LA Times) and over AB 1955, the law on schools and student gender identity (campaign issues page).

Justice Department work. In June 2025 he signed the department’s lawsuit against Orange County Registrar Robert Page seeking unredacted voter records (Democracy Docket).

Ethics and enforcement records.

• FPPC warning letter, Sept. 14, 2026. After an AdWatch complaint, the FPPC found that a video ad his campaign posted on X lacked the “ad paid for by” line and the required notice “Ad generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence.” It closed the case with a warning because the ad had a partial disclaimer, he fixed it and he had no prior history of this kind (FPPC warning letter, No. 2026-00809).
• FPPC fine, May 2026. As Huntington Beach City Attorney he did not report a VIP pass from Pacific LLC on his 2022 disclosure form and paid a $600 penalty (FPPC stipulation, No. 2026-00208). Voice of OC reported that the pass was to the 2022 Pacific Airshow. Gates called it “ridiculous” and said, “It’s a little unfair to say you have to disclose an amount when there is no amount” (Voice of OC).
• Nothing found. No Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records name him. The State Bar lists him as licensee 258446, admitted December 2008, active, with no discipline (State Bar profile). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.

Where they stand

Issues come from the questions the Southern California News Group put to both candidates in May 2026 (Bonta; Gates) and from the LA Times race guide. Bonta did not submit a statement for the official voter guide. The Mercury News reported that candidates who decline the voluntary spending limit ($11.8 million for this office) cannot publish one, and Bonta declined it (Mercury News). Bonta’s campaign issue page lists general priorities without specific targets (campaign site, archived Sept 22, 2026).

On the other ballot measures

The Attorney General’s office writes the official title and summary of every state proposition (LA Times). That is a legal duty, not a position. City of Los Angeles and County measures on the same ballot are left out; no position on them by either candidate was found.

Source: the SCNG questionnaires, the LA Times race guide, the Mercury News race story and both campaign sites linked above. “No stated position” means none was found there.

Endorsements

Rob Bonta

From his campaign’s endorsement page as archived on June 1, 2026, before the primary (archived page), unless another source is linked. The live page blocks our requests, so later additions are not shown.

• Party: California Democratic Party (CalMatters voter guide; party’s Aug 2, 2026 list).
• Statewide officials: Gov. Gavin Newsom, Controller Malia Cohen, Secretary of State Shirley Weber (endorsement page).
• U.S. Senators: Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla and Cory Booker (endorsement page).
• Members of Congress from Los Angeles County: Nanette Barragán, Judy Chu, Gil Cisneros, Laura Friedman, Robert Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Ted Lieu, Luz Rivas, Linda Sánchez, Brad Sherman and Norma Torres, among 29 House members listed (endorsement page).
• Legislature: Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and more than 70 legislators, including LA-area Sens. María Elena Durazo, Caroline Menjivar, Sasha Renée Perez and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas and Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan, Jessica Caloza, Mike Gipson, Tina McKinnor and Celeste Rodriguez (endorsement page).
• Local officials: LA Mayor Karen Bass, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, and the district attorneys of San Diego, San Francisco, Contra Costa and Ventura counties (endorsement page).
• Unions: SEIU California, Teamsters California, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Nurses Association, California Professional Firefighters, California Correctional Peace Officers Association, State Building and Construction Trades Council, UFCW Western States Council, ILWU Local 13 and Operating Engineers Local 12 (endorsement page).
• Organizations: Sierra Club California, California Environmental Voters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Equality California, California Medical Association, Smart Justice California and Courage Campaign (endorsement page).
• Newspapers: The San Francisco Examiner editorial board endorsed him in May 2026, citing his suits against the administration (SF Examiner, archived).

Michael Gates

From his campaign’s endorsement page (gates4ag.com, checked Sept 30, 2026) unless another source is linked.

• Party: California Republican Party (CalMatters voter guide; party’s endorsement page), the American Independent Party of California, and more than 40 county Republican parties, including Los Angeles County’s (endorsement page).
• Law enforcement: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (Press-Enterprise, July 14, 2026); sheriffs of Orange, Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties; the Fresno and Kern County district attorneys; former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva; and police and deputy unions in Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Westminster, Newport Beach, Pomona, Simi Valley, San Bernardino County and San Diego County (endorsement page). The Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association also endorsed him (campaign release).
• Elected officials: Rep. Ken Calvert, Republican state senators including Tony Strickland (campaign co-chair), Assembly Republicans including Carl DeMaio, Orange County Supervisors Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen, former LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, the Huntington Beach mayor and council, and Torrance Councilmember Aurelio Mattucci (endorsement page).
• Candidates and others: gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, lieutenant governor candidate Gloria Romero, superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw (endorsement page), and former ambassador Richard Grenell (campaign release).
• Organizations: California Rifle & Pistol Association, California Parents Union, California Republican Assembly, Lincoln Club of Orange County and Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs (endorsement page). Reform California, the group behind Prop 39, also endorsed him (Democracy Docket).
• Newspapers: None found.

Editorial boards not yet found: no LA Times or Daily News endorsement in this race was found as of Sept 30, 2026. Primary-season editorials by the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee appear in news listings but could not be opened, so they are not listed.

Polls

No public poll of the November matchup was found.

Money

Source: Form 460 reports for Rob Bonta for CA Attorney General 2026 and Gates for Attorney General 2026, from the Secretary of State’s Cal-Access raw data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026. Independent spending: the committees linked under Outside spending. Contributions include in-kind gifts ($33,530 for Bonta, $20,713 for Gates). The per-election limit is $9,800 from a person and $19,600 from a small contributor committee, with no limit on parties (FPPC). There is no public financing for state candidates.

Who is giving

Method: itemized contributions (Schedule A and C) to each candidate committee in the period above, from Cal-Access (Bonta; Gates), plus late-contribution reports after Sep 19. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. “Maximum” means at least one gift at the $9,800 per-election limit. Location uses the donor’s ZIP code. A ZIP counts as City of Los Angeles if at least half its area is inside the City. Contributions under $100 that committees did not itemize ($310,664 for Bonta, $120,433 for Gates) have no donor detail.

Source: itemized contributions on Cal-Access (Bonta; Gates).

Rob Bonta

About a fifth of Bonta’s itemized money (21.6%, $625,346) came from 62 union and public-employee committees (Cal-Access). The largest gave $39,200 each, the most a small contributor committee can give across two elections: SEIU Local 2015, SEIU California State Council, the California Teachers Association and SEIU Local 1000. Other large union donors include United Domestic Workers ($30,100), the California Federation of Teachers ($29,200) and the California Faculty Association ($27,600).

Among individuals, people listing no employer or retired gave 21.4% of itemized dollars (Cal-Access). Lawyers and law firms gave 7.5% (122 donors), including the Consumer Attorneys of California PAC ($10,500). Finance and investment donors gave 4.9%. Technology donors gave 3.9%; five employees of Anthropic gave $59,853. Real estate and development donors gave 2.9%. BNSF Railway ($14,800) and Anheuser-Busch ($10,500) gave directly. Insurance industry donors gave $640.

Michael Gates

Most of Gates’s money (88.1%) came from individuals (Cal-Access). People listing no employer or retired gave 36.3% of itemized dollars. Real estate and development donors gave 8.2% (93 donors). Finance and investment donors gave 4.5%. Lawyers gave 3.5%.

Unions and public-employee groups gave $61,100 (3.7%) (Cal-Access). Most are police and deputy associations, led by the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association ($19,600) and the Newport Beach and Bakersfield police associations ($9,800 each).

No clusters (five or more donors from one employer within three days) were found in either committee’s reports (Cal-Access).

Industry rule: each individual gets the first category whose keywords appear in the employer name, then the occupation. Committees and businesses are grouped by type. About 15% to 19% of each candidate’s itemized dollars could not be assigned an industry.

Outside spending

Independent expenditures in this race are small. Totals combine Form 460 Schedule D and Form 496 reports on Cal-Access since January 2025, without double counting (each committee is linked under the table).

Source: Form 460 Schedule D and Form 496 reports on Cal-Access: Courage California State PAC; GrowSF Voter Guide; United Domestic Workers IE PAC; LA County Democratic Party issues committee; LA County Democratic Party candidate committee; Newport Beach Police Association PAC; Reform Local Government PAC; San Diego deputies’ PAC; San Diego County Gun Owners PAC. The seven smaller pro-Bonta spenders include the San Diego Labor Coalition, Contra Costa and Orange County Democratic parties, two Democratic clubs, and CTA and CFT committees.

Who funds them. Contributions since January 2025 from each committee’s Form 460 reports on Cal-Access (linked under the table):

• Courage California State PAC: Progressive Era PAC $30,000; one individual $25,000; National Union of Healthcare Workers committee $5,000 (Cal-Access).
• GrowSF Voter Guide (Coalition to Grow San Francisco): $1.84 million, led by Jeremy Liew (Lightspeed Venture Partners) and Christian Larsen (Ripple) at $500,000 each (Cal-Access).
• United Domestic Workers IE PAC: nearly all of $2.21 million is unitemized member money under $100 (Cal-Access).
• Reform Local Government PAC: $558,254, including $113,793 unitemized, La Playa LLC $49,000 and one individual $40,000 (Cal-Access).
• San Diego County Gun Owners PAC: $134,412, mostly small donors (Cal-Access).
• The Newport Beach police and San Diego deputies’ PACs have no Form 460 filings since 2025 in the state data, so their funders could not be traced (Newport Beach; San Diego).

Key moments

Debates and forums

No debate between Bonta and Gates was found. Both answered the Southern California News Group questionnaire in May 2026 (Bonta; Gates).

Events

• Bonta stays out of the governor’s race (January 2026).

  • What happened: Bonta announced he would seek reelection rather than run for governor (LA Times; Orange County Register).
  • Bonta: “In this moment, my place is here, shielding Californians from the most brazen attacks on our rights and our families” (Orange County Register).

• Court upholds the Prop 39 ballot summary (August 6, 2026).

  • What happened: Prop 39 backers led by Assemblymember Carl DeMaio sued over Bonta’s title and summary. A judge ruled for Bonta’s office on August 6 (LA Times).
  • Bonta: “My office followed the law and fulfilled its duty to provide California voters with clear, accessible, and accurate information” (LA Times).
  • Gates’s response: none found.

• Supreme Court rules for Bonta over the Riverside sheriff (September 24, 2026).

  • What happened: the court ruled the seizure of more than 650,000 ballots unlawful and upheld Bonta’s power to stop the sheriff’s investigation (Press-Enterprise; LA Times column). Bianco had endorsed Gates in July (Press-Enterprise).
  • Bonta: “sanity, common sense, and importantly the rule of law have prevailed” (Press-Enterprise).
  • Gates’s response: none found.

• Primary results (June 2026).

  • Bonta: “Californians are ready to keep moving forward” (Daily News).
  • Gates: “Californians are ready for new leadership in the Attorney General’s office” (Daily News).