In the wake of recent attacks on Asian Americans, Gov. Gavin Newsom has chosen Bay Area Assemblymember Rob Bonta to serve as the state’s first Filipino American attorney general. Bonta will fill a vacancy left by Xavier Becerra when he joined the Biden administration.
“Growing up with parents steeped in social justice movements, Rob has become a national leader in the fight to repair our justice system and defend the rights of every Californian,” said Newsom.
Bonta’s parents were organizers for United Farm Workers. The family lived in a trailer next door to UFW Founder César Chávez, giving Bonta a front seat at the labor battles of the 1970s.
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Bonta served as a deputy city attorney for San Francisco before running for office.
Sen. Anna Caballero of Salinas was on the shortlist for attorney general. Before office, she advocated for farmworkers as an attorney for the group California Rural Legal Assistance.
