Your guide to the California attorney general election: Rob Bonta vs. Nathan Hochman

Before he was elected to the state Assembly in 2012, Bonta served as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco and vice mayor for the city of Alameda. As a state lawmaker, Bonta earned a reputation for his left-leaning legislative record and support for criminal justice reform policies, which include bills to phase out private prisons and detention facilities in California and to eliminate cash bail.

Since taking the helm of the state Department of Justice, Bonta has focused on prosecuting hate crimes, launched a program last year to apprehend human traffickers and cracked down on organized retail theft.

Bonta said that public safety is “priority and job number one, two and three,” but he’s faced pushback for laws he supported that his critics blame for an increase in certain crimes and the drug addiction crisis.

Hochman has focused his campaign on rebalancing criminal justice policies he said have swung too far to the left. He said he wants to “bring safety and security back to California” by increasing penalties for fentanyl dealers and through a statewide task force on human trafficking.

Hochman said his message appeals to Democrats and independents who want an attorney general in the “hard-middle” of the political spectrum and who’ve grown weary of California’s commitment to criminal justice reform efforts that he said have jeopardized public safety.

His résumé includes experience as both a federal prosecutor and defense attorney, skills he said would serve him well as California’s top law enforcement officer. Hochman has blasted Bonta’s lack of experience as a prosecutor as evidence that he’s the better fit for the job.

Bonta secured 54.3% of the vote in the June 7 primary, compared with Hochman’s 18.2%, and is favored to win a full four-year term to the job.