Californians now have a candidate for Attorney General that will push back on controversial soft-on-crime policies and fight for fair ballot titles and summaries.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is up for election to a full term in November, but new polling shows voters are rejecting his soft-on-crime policies — indicating a tough election battle for the controversial incumbent.
A recent Berkeley/IGS poll found that 78% of Californians say crime has risen statewide, with 65% saying crime has increased in their area. Another poll by Politico/Morning Consult shows 75% of voters blame the liberal policy of “defund the police” as the primary cause of increasing crime in the state.
Opponents lay the blame for rising crime rates at the feet of liberal soft-on-crime politicians like Bonta, and some are already lining up to offer voters an alternative based on safety and security.
Nathan Hochman, a former Assistant Attorney General of the United States and Assistant US Attorney for the Criminal Division, is stepping up to run against Bonta as an “agent of change” in California. He says his 30 years of criminal justice experience is no match for Bonta, who had zero years of criminal justice experience prior to taking office.
“I would advocate laws that have consequences for crimes, I’d focus on actually enforcing the law, and I would … treat the police as our partners rather than as our enemies,” said Hochman on the DeMaio Report on 600AM KOGO.
As for his strategy and chances, Hochman says “Safety and security is the crossover issue” that resonates with a supermajority of people in California.
Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California and a leading advocate for criminal justice reform in California, says a conservative candidate like Hochman offers Californians the opportunity to secure their communities again.
“Californians are waking up and demanding safety and an end to ‘defund the police’ rhetoric that is hurting our communities — an Attorney General who will fight to restore security and passing a repeal of Prop 47 would make our state safe again,” said DeMaio.
Proposition 47 passed in 2014 under the name “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” but in effect tied the hands of law enforcement.
“Proposition 47 … basically sent the message to criminals that we’re not gonna go ahead and prosecute crimes to their full extent — we’re gonna treat it as misdemeanors rather than felonies,” explained Hochman.
Hochman has committed to writing unbiased, factual, and fair ballot titles and summaries on all measures, so “the voters decide” whether to pass the initiatives or not. He went on to explain that politicians like Bonta play games with ballot titles to confuse voters, citing Prop 47 as the example.
“Well who doesn’t want ‘safe neighborhoods and schools?’” asked Hochman. “But what they didn’t actually call it is ‘We’re Gonna Treat Felons as Misdemeanors Now and Not Prosecute Act’ … I think if they called it that, people would’ve most likely voted against it rather than for it,” he continued.
In the Berkeley/IGS poll, 57% of California voters indicated support for a repeal of Prop 47, and Carl DeMaio and Reform California are leading the fight to do just that. They are working to secure enough signatures by April 26th to qualify a repeal measure for the November 2022 ballot.
“Electing a conservative Attorney General and repealing Prop 47 are critical in our fight to make our communities safe again, but we need the help of ordinary Californians to do that,” said DeMaio.
That’s why DeMaio is asking concerned Californians to support Reform California’s campaign today to restore public safety.
Join the Fight: Restore Public Safety in California
Download and Sign the Petition: Repeal Prop 47
To learn more about Nathan Hochman for Attorney General, visit nathanhochman.com
Photo Credit: Nathan Hochman