Democratic incumbent Rob Bonta beats Republican Nathan Hochman in California attorney general race
Democratic incumbent Rob Bonta holds hands with a man who was born and raised in the same village he represents in Orange County. (Photo: Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO — An ambitious race for California attorney general ended in a rout for Republican nominee Nathan Hochman on Tuesday, a stunning loss that left the GOP scrambling for a path to retake control of the top law enforcement position in one of the country’s most Democratic states.
The stunning result in the closely watched contest gave Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris a victory that will likely put her in a position to serve alongside the country’s first woman U.S. president in 2020. But with the election now less than three months away, California Republicans have little time to recover from losing Hochman in what was otherwise a bright-light victory and a potential stepping stone for a 2020 run for the White House.
With the race in California, the Republican Party will have a lot at stake as it tries to define its path forward in a state that votes red in presidential years and leans blue in nonpresidential years.
It will also be a test of the party’s ability to attract the kind of candidates voters are increasingly looking for in competitive statewide races to counter the rise of progressive Democrats and Republicans from the suburbs.
“We’re very excited about Rob as attorney general. I have known Rob from the very beginning of his campaign, and I was excited to see him in this race,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel. “Rob has consistently and proudly served our state for decades to come, and we’re very proud of his accomplishments.”
But her party would be entering the game with a new set of vulnerabilities.
Already weakened by a series of scandals for which he was forced to resign from his role as head of the state’s health department, Hochman was