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State of California · Statewide General Election

Attorney General

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

On the ballot

This person is the state's top lawyer and chief law enforcement officer.

California's top lawyer and chief law-enforcement officer. Incumbent Rob Bonta took about 55% statewide; his November 3 opponent is Michael Gates — the former Huntington Beach city attorney who has spent years suing the state Bonta defends. It's the sharpest philosophical contrast on the statewide ballot.

The AG runs the state Department of Justice for four years: picking the state's legal fights, representing California in court, and overseeing law-enforcement standards statewide.

Bonta's office has sued the Trump administration 54 times since January 2025; Gates built his career suing Sacramento over housing mandates, sanctuary policy, and election rules. Your vote here is less about lawyering skill than about which set of lawsuits you want filed in California's name.

Rob Bonta

Democrat, incumbent since 2021; former East Bay Assemblymember. His office reports 35 preliminary injunctions won against federal actions, and he has sued LA County itself over jail conditions. He runs on continuing that litigation posture.

Strengths

A prolific, experienced litigator for state policy — from National Guard deployments to the birthright-citizenship order — and willing to take on local governments too.

Trade-offs

Critics argue the heavy anti-Washington caseload leaves less bandwidth for bread-and-butter consumer and criminal work.

Keep in mind

Some signature fights have stumbled — a judge dismissed the state's Huntington Beach voter-ID suit, and rulings in the parental-notification school cases went against the state's position. His opponent was the opposing counsel in both.

Michael E. Gates

Republican; deputy U.S. attorney and a decade as Huntington Beach City Attorney. He made his name suing the state — and defending the first local voter-ID law in California. Electing him would flip the office's posture entirely.

Strengths

An experienced courtroom adversary of state government who has won some of those fights.

Trade-offs

An AG whose record is suing the state would be a hard reversal — exciting or alarming depending on your view of Sacramento.

Keep in mind

The circumstances of his 2025 U.S. DOJ departure were disputed in press coverage; he produced a letter he says confirms he resigned (per LAist).

Financial info

Rob Bonta

$2,802,406raised
  • Small donors$268,47410%
  • Individuals$1,516,49354%
  • PACs & committees$743,10027%
  • Businesses & other orgs$257,8509%

Michael E. Gates

$1,262,318raised
  • Small donors$106,0849%
  • Individuals$1,018,86182%
  • PACs & committees$69,8006%
  • Businesses & other orgs$50,2764%
  • Self-funding$100<1%

Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-03.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Rob Bonta (Democratic)56.6% · 4,979,967 votes
Michael E. Gates (Republican)37.9% · 3,337,433 votes
Marjorie Mikels (Green)5.4% · 478,450 votes
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 3, 2026.