SACRAMENTO, California — Attorney General Rob Bonta, a labor-aligned progressive at the forefront of blue-state challenges to the second Trump administration, will not join the crowded field of Democrats running for California governor.
Instead, he’ll continue his bid for reelection for attorney general. Bonta told POLITICO that recent actions by the administration, including President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze welfare funds to California and four other blue states and the controversial shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent, reinforced to him the need to stay in the legal fight against the White House.
“Watching these recent events unfold reaffirms what I believe in my core, which is that my place is here on these front lines, continuing this fight, using the largest state Department of Justice in the nation to protect our people,” he said. He added that remaining in his current role would allow him to “continue to fight for Californians in only the way an attorney general can. And I think I can do that in ways that even other offices, including the governor, cannot.”…