Assembly member Rob Bonta is confirmed by the State Legislature as California’s next attorney general. He is the first Fil-Am attorney general for the state, it came after a month he was nominated by Governor Gavin Newsom.
According to the Asian Journal, the 48-year-old Democrat received 29-6 votes in the Senate and 62-0 in the Assembly. As an assembly member, he represented the East Bay areas of Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro.
The nomination and confirmation as California’s Attorney General comes after outgoing General Xavier Becerra was set to lead the Department of Health and Human Services by the U.S. Senate. Governor Newsom said during a press conference, “Rob represents what makes California great – our desire to take on righteous fights and reverse systematic injustices…”
Rob Bonta was born in Quezon City, Philippines and moved to the U.S. at a young age. He lived in La Paz, CA, in the Tehachapi Mountains outside Bakersfield. Activism runs in the family as his parents, Cynthia and Warren worked with Filipino and Latino farmworkers and labor leaders in the community. His parents were working as missionaries in the Philippines when he was born. He reflects on the teachings he learned from his parents and the message of “injustice against one is an injustice against all” stuck with him.
Before his 2012 election to the State Assembly, he was San Francisco’s deputy city attorney, director of the Alameda Health Care District and vice mayor of Alameda’s City Council. Bonta will serve as Attorney General through 2022 and will have his first statewide election next November.
Cover Photo Credit: Asian Journal