Rob Bonta | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2023 | |
| 34thAttorney General of California | |
| Assumed office April 23, 2021 | |
| Governor | Gavin Newsom |
| Preceded by | Matthew Rodriquez (acting) |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the18th district | |
| In office December 3, 2012 – April 22, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Mary Hayashi |
| Succeeded by | Mia Bonta |
| Member of theAlameda City Council | |
| In office December 21, 2010 – November 20, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Matarrese |
| Succeeded by | Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Andres Bonta (1971-09-22)September 22, 1971 (age 54) Quezon City, Philippines |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingReina |
| Education | Yale University (BA,JD) University of Oxford |
Robert Andres Bonta (born September 22, 1971)[a] is a Filipino and American lawyer and politician who has served as the 34thattorney general of California since 2021. A member of theDemocratic Party, he previously served as a member of theCalifornia State Assembly for the18th district from 2012 to 2021 and as a member of theAlameda City Council from 2010 to 2012.
The first Filipino American to serve in theCalifornia State Legislature,[6] Bonta chaired the California Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. AfterXavier Becerra resigned as attorney general to becomeSecretary of Health and Human Services, Bonta was appointed by GovernorGavin Newsom to replace him. Bonta was sworn in on April 23, 2021, becoming the first Filipino American to hold the office.[7] Bonta was elected to a full four-year term in office in2022.[8]
Robert Andres Bonta was born on September 22, 1971,[a] inQuezon City, Philippines, where his parents were working as Christian missionaries.[3] Bonta immigrated with his family toCalifornia later in 1971, as an infant.[3][9]
The Bonta family initially lived in a trailer atNuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, theUnited Farm Workers headquarters nearKeene, California, before moving north toFair Oaks, a suburb ofSacramento.[9][10] AtBella Vista High School, Bonta was a soccer player and graduated as classvaledictorian.[10]
Bonta then attendedYale University, where he graduatedcum laude with aB.A. in history in 1993 and played on theYale Bulldogs men's soccer team.[11][12] After completing his undergraduate studies, Bonta attended theUniversity of Oxford for one year studyingpolitics, philosophy, and economics.[11] In 1995, Bonta enrolled atYale Law School and graduated with aJuris Doctor in 1998.[13]
After his year at Oxford, Bonta returned to New Haven to attendYale Law School while concurrently working as site coordinator at nonprofit organization Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP), where he developed policy and managed activities for 30 staff members and 100 children for an organization serving the Church Street South neighborhood.[11] Bonta was admitted to theCalifornia State Bar in 1999.[14]
From 1998 to 1999, Bonta clerked for JudgeAlvin W. Thompson of theUnited States District Court for the District of Connecticut.[11] Bonta then returned to California to be a litigation associate withSan Francisco law firmKeker & Van Nest. Working at Keker & Van Nest from 1999 to 2003, Bonta practiced in a variety of areas including civil rights, crime, insurance, patent infringement, legal malpractice, contract, and fraud.[11] As a private attorney, Bonta was part of a team that worked with the ACLU to implement new protocols to prevent racial profiling by the California Highway Patrol.[15]
From 2003 to 2012, Bonta was aDeputy City Attorney of San Francisco underDennis Herrera.[11][13] During his tenure, Bonta represented the City of San Francisco in a lawsuit filed by Kelly Medora, a pre-school teacher who accused aSan Francisco Police Department officer of using excessive force during a jaywalking arrest. The officer, Christopher Damonte, broke the woman’s arm. Damonte was later fired for a separate incident.
Bonta, as the assigned attorney by the City Attorney's Office, argued for the city that Medora and her friends put themselves and others in danger by walking on the street and were warned to leave by Damonte and another officer. The city eventually settled the lawsuit for $235,000 in May 2008.[16]
In 2009, Bonta argued on behalf of San Francisco, defending its strip search policy in jails by asserting that concerns about smuggling of drugs and weapons at a main city jail presented reasonable basis for strip searches.[17] TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 6–5 in favor of the strip search policy in February 2010.[18]
Bonta was elected to Alameda City Council in November 2010. He was sworn in on December 21, 2010, and appointed vice mayor the same day. Within a year, he declared his intent to run for state assembly. In 2012, some Alameda residents started a recall campaign against him but the effort never qualified for the ballot, with Bonta winning election to the state assembly in November 2012.[19] The final city council meeting during which he was a member of the city council was on November 20, 2012.
Bonta was elected to represent the18th district in theCalifornia State Assembly in the2012 election. He was reelected in the2014,2016,2018, and2020 elections. In February 2021,CalMatters reported that Bonta had regularly solicited donations, also known as "behested payments", from companies with business before California's legislature for his wife's nonprofit organization.[20]
As a member of the state assembly, Bonta authored major changes to California's penal code, as well as immigration, health care, and housing law. Bonta authored legislation in 2016 to outlawbalance billing by hospitals in order to help consumers avoid surprise medical bills.[21] Brown signed the bill into law September 2016.[22]
Bonta introduced Assembly Bill 1481 in 2019, which sought to outlaw baseless evictions and mandate landlords demonstrate "just cause" in order to evict residential tenants. The bill was combined with a statewide cap on rent increases and other rental proposals into a single piece of legislation.[23] That bill, Assembly Bill 1482, was passed by the California Legislature and signed by Newsom in October 2019.[24]
Bonta introduced legislation in January 2013 that would require California public schools, as funding is available, to teach students "the role of immigrants, including Filipino Americans" in the farm labor movement.[25] It was signed into law in October of that same year byJerry Brown.[26] Bonta's mother, Cynthia Bonta, helped organize Filipino andMexican Americanfarmworkers for theUnited Farm Workers.[6]
Bonta introduced legislation to repeal aMcCarthy-era ban onCommunist Party members holding government jobs in California.[27] The bill received criticism from Republicans, veteran groups andVietnamese Americans, with Republican AssemblymanTravis Allen calling it "blatantly offensive to all Californians." After passing the State Assembly, the legislation was later withdrawn.[28]
Bonta and State SenatorRobert Hertzberg co-authored Senate Bill 10, which when passed, made California the first state in the nation to eliminate money bail for suspects awaiting trial and replace it with a risk-assessment system.[29] On August 28, 2018, GovernorJerry Brown signed the bill into law.[30]
Bonta introduced legislation to end the use of for-profit, private prisons and detention facilities in California. Signed in 2019 by Gavin Newsom, AB 32 made California the first state in the nation to ban both private prisons and civil detention centers.[31]
Bonta joined AssemblymemberKevin McCarty and other colleagues in 2019 as a lead author[32] of Assembly Bill 1506, a bill to mandate an independent review of officers involved in shootings in California by the California Department of Justice. The bill was signed into law in September 2020 by Newsom.[33]
Following themurder of George Floyd and a July 2020incident in Central Park involving a white woman calling 9-1-1 to report a black man who asked her to obey park rules,[34] Bonta introduced legislation that would criminalize knowingly making a false call to the police based on someone's race, religion, or gender.[35]
On March 24, 2021, GovernorGavin Newsom announced that he would be appointing Bonta asAttorney General of California to succeedXavier Becerra, who had resigned the position to becomeSecretary of Health and Human Services under PresidentJoe Biden.[36][37]
Bonta's appointment was praised by prominent state Democrats includingToni Atkins, thepresident pro tempore of the state senate, and U.S. RepresentativeAdam Schiff. He assumed office on April 23, 2021, becoming the firstFilipino-American to serve as California Attorney General.[37]
After taking office, Bonta launched an independent review into the 2020shooting of Sean Monterrosa by police inVallejo,Solano County.[38] In August 2021, Bonta announced an independent review of the 2009killing of Oscar Grant byBART Police officer Johannes Mehserle.[39]
In 2022, Bonta expressed concern that theAmerican Data Privacy and Protection Act would preempt theCalifornia Privacy Rights Act and inhibit state officials' ability to enforce data privacy regulations.[40]
In September 2022, Bonta filed anantitrust lawsuit againstAmazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of unlawfully stifling price competition.[41] Amazon's effort to have the lawsuit dismissed was rejected by a judge in March 2023.[42] In January 2023, Bonta andattorneys general from seven other states joined theDepartment of Justice in filing anantitrust lawsuit againstGoogle'sadvertising technology (adtech) market practices.[43]
As California Attorney General, Bonta has responsibility for enforcing the provisions of the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, often known asSenate Bill 9 or "SB9". Passed in 2021, the legislation aims to solve the statehousing shortage crisis by changing statezoning law to allow for the construction of more units.
In 2022, Bonta intervened after the city ofWoodside controversially claimed it is the site of acougar habitat and should be granted an exception under SB9.[44] In response, Bonta noted that "SB9 does not allow for entire towns or cities to be declared off limits" from the law, and that exceptions require "a parcel specific inquiry".[45] The city of Woodside later abandoned its effort to seek an exception under SB9.[46]
In June 2022, Bonta released an online dashboard containing data on firearms in what he said was an effort to improve transparency and increase public trust. The site was taken down the following day after a vulnerability on the site inadvertently exposed sensitive information about concealed-carry weapon permit holders.[47] Bonta condemned the incident, saying, it was "unacceptable and falls short of...expectations for this department", and that he was "deeply disturbed and angered", while his office said it was investigating how much information might have been exposed.[47]
According toThe Wall Street Journal, data from the gun violence restraining dashboards were leaked, as was data from theassault weapon registry and dashboards pertaining tohandgun certification, records of sale, and gun safety. The breach exposed personal data that included names, dates of birth, gender and race, driver’s license number, addresses, and criminal history.[48]
TheCalifornia Rifle & Pistol Association said the breach "put the lives of judges, prosecutors, domestic violence victims and everyday citizens at risk" and gave criminals "a map to their homes".[47] The leak happened days after theSupreme Court struck downNew York's concealed carry permit system inNew York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.[47]
On May 4, 2023, Bonta and his New York counterpartLetitia James announced they would jointly investigate theNational Football League over employment practices at its offices inNew York City andLos Angeles, citing a report byThe New York Times detailing complaints of harassment and discrimination made by former female staffers.[49]
On September 21, 2023, Bonta filed a lawsuit against crisis pregnancy centersHeartbeat International and RealOptions, claiming they made "fraudulent and misleading claims" about the efficacy of "abortion pill reversal", which uses high doses of progesterone to attempt to counteract the effects ofmifepristone. Bonta stated that the companies are aware there is no scientific evidence the process works, and failed to alert patients to possible side effects.[50][51][52]
On January 16, 2026, Bonta announced an investigation into xAI, owner of social media serviceX, over the large-scale use of artificial intelligence to create nonconsensual sexual images and child sexual abuse material.[53][54]
On January 30, 2026, Bonta filed a lawsuit against Rady Children's Health for ending its gender-affirming care program for patients under the age of 19 in compliance withTrump administration policies on transgender healthcare. The lawsuit alleges that the decision violates conditions of the hospital's 2024 merger with Children's Hospital of Orange County.[55][56]
In February 2026, Rob Bonta, announced a civil rights investigation into the emergency response to the 2025 Eaton Fire, focusing on potential disparities affecting the historically Black community of West Altadena. The investigation seeks to determine whether race, age, or disability discrimination influenced evacuation warnings or other aspects of the response. According to the California Department of Justice, the fire burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures, and resulted in at least 19 fatalities.[57]
In the2022 election, Bonta chose to run for a full term as attorney general. Bonta won an absolute 54.3% majority in the June 2022 primary election, and defeatedRepublicanNathan Hochman, a formerU.S. Assistant Attorney General, with 59.1% in the general election.
Following U.S. SenatorDianne Feinstein's decision to retire and not seek reelection in the2024 Senate election, Bonta was mentioned as a potentialSenate candidate.[58] However, Bonta declined to run, and co-endorsed the campaigns of U.S. RepresentativesBarbara Lee andKatie Porter.[59][60]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Rob Bonta (incumbent) | 3,756,486 | 54.3 | |
| Republican | Nathan Hochman | 1,256,465 | 18.2 | |
| Republican | Eric Early | 1,142,747 | 16.5 | |
| No party preference | Anne Marie Schubert | 539,746 | 7.8 | |
| Green | Dan Kapelovitz | 219,912 | 3.2 | |
| Total votes | 6,915,356 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Rob Bonta (incumbent) | 6,339,436 | 59.1 | |
| Republican | Nathan Hochman | 4,390,424 | 40.9 | |
| Total votes | 10,729,860 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
Bonta's wife,Mia Bonta, is a member of theCalifornia State Assembly and was elected in a 2021special election to fill her husband's vacant seat. She previously served as the president of theAlameda Unified School District.[63] She and Bonta have three children.[64] Their daughter,Reina, is a filmmaker and playssoccer for the Brazilian clubSantos FC, which competes in theBrasileirão Feminino, and thePhilippines national team.[65][66]
Bonta, 49, will be the first Filipino American to serve as the state's top cop
Bonta, 49, was an infant when his family, in 1971, moved to California from the Philippines, where his parents worked as missionaries.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, last month nominated Bonta, 49, to succeed Xavier Becerra.
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Matt Rodriquez Acting | Attorney General of California 2021–present | Incumbent |
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