Friends,
I’m living my California dream – serving, helping others, making lives better, and righting wrongs.
My parents taught me that everyday people – fighting side-by-side and committed to a common cause – can do anything, can change the world. And they didn't just tell me, they showed me.
My father marched and organized as part of the Civil Rights Movement in Selma, where he met Stokely Carmichael and was in church with Martin Luther King Jr. Both my parents worked for the United Farm Workers of America in the iconic headquarters of La Paz where our family of five lived in a trailer – my father in the front office setting up health care clinics for farm workers alongside the legendary Cesar Chavez and my mom in the preschool, at a time when both Dolores Huerta and Phillip Vera Cruz were part of the movement.
All were fighting for a fair contract and dignity and respect for those who fed our state, nation, and the world. As they fought for people who were vulnerable, overlooked, abused, and mistreated, my parents often asked elected leaders to stand with them, to see them, and value them, and fight with them.
But too often, those leaders didn’t answer the call.
But my parents kept fighting, and they inspired me to do the same. With all the gifts my parents gave me – an incredible California public school education, the confidence that if I worked hard enough I could go to college, and if I dreamed big enough, I could go to law school – I thought that as I reached back to take the baton of service from them, maybe one day I could be an elected official, one who wouldn't have to ask or beg someone else to fight for the people who needed it, because I could do that fighting myself.
And so I ran for office – and now, as your California Attorney General, my goal every day is to make your fights my fights, and to stand by your side and be your champion as you face the many challenges in your lives. On my best days, I look in the mirror and see my parents.
It's been an honor and the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your California Attorney General, and I'd be grateful to earn your support to continue fighting for you for the next four years. I hope you’ll consider chipping in to my campaign in these final days before Election Day.
Thank you.
Rob Bonta
California Attorney General