Part 140: The 2026 Elections and Rob Bonta – Union Power and Political Results

Published December 13, 2024.

Dec 13, 2024

Photo of California Attorney General Rob Bonta with Vice President Kamala Harris and Assemblywoman Mia Bonta in 2022 from Bonta’s campaign social media account.

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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has made no secret that he’s a friend of organized labor. The California Democrat was first appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom before being elected in 2022 over current Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman. For example, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the former Bay Area Assemblymember posted a picture of himself on December 11 with members of SEIU California. “CA DOJ stands with our workers and unions,” the Attorney General said, remarking, “I stand with you,” and referencing the threat of President-elect Donald Trump. In his campaign to preemptively rebut the Trump election, Bonta has already worked to secure a $25 million legal war chest after holding a press conference next to the Golden Gate Bridge. Many have speculated that he will enter the race to replace outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom in what might be a Democratic Party battle royale. California, after all, is a land of opportunity.

The Attorney General, though, has something else in his place that a whole lot more people should be asking questions about. A 2-plus-year-long investigation was announced after the leak of the LA Fed Tapes, ostensibly into the 2020 redistricting process in the City of Los Angeles. The investigation was announced on October 12, 2022, in the aftermath of the leaked audio scandal. With the AG stating, “The decennial redistricting process is foundational for our democracy and for the ability of our communities to make their voices heard—and it must be above reproach.” According to reporting in the Los Angeles Times by journalists David Zahniser and Dakota Smith, Bonta may not wait until the end of the decade to shake things up politically in the City of Angels, even as soon before the November 2026 elections. That was the word, at least in October, the month of all great election surprises.

The October 3 article stated that the Times had reporting was based on “a copy of which was reviewed by The Times,” which suggests that they didn’t actually obtain the document. A follow-up request to the Times didn’t produce it either, all of which would suggest that either someone within the Los Angeles City Council hierarchy or within the State Attorney General’s office simply decided to do a little show and tell without a full leak. The report suggested on an almost inflammatory basis that Los Angeles hasn’t done enough with districting to ensure Latino representation. The Times report states: “The map approved by the City Council in 2021 does not currently provide sufficient representation for Latinos in parts of the city.” The Times further adds that “Bonta’s office singled out two council districts on the Eastside—one represented by Eunisses Hernandez, the other by Kevin de León—as areas of concern.” Ironically, both Council Districts 14 and 1 were at the time represented by Latino politicians already. What Bonta ultimately does in LA remains to be seen.

Since then, Ysabel Jurado, a Filipina like Bonta, who is Filipino-American, has handily defeated Kevin de León, who had almost viciously fought to save his job after the LA Fed Tapes scandal. Jurado is now sworn into office, and KDL, after what appeared to be a weeks-long bender, beard included, is now on vacation or at his home in Eagle Rock. The 2026 elections in Los Angeles have already begun, though so the longer Bonta waits to make his move, which was criticized after closed-door sessions by the likes of outgoing Councilmember and Council President Paul Krekorian stated that the current maps were reviewed by attorneys and, moreover, that “not one of the many citizen groups and civic associations who participated in the redistricting process has made any legal challenge to the current maps.” So will Bonta still force Los Angeles to redraw its maps even though the race is essentially already beginning? The City of Los Angeles deserves answers. The LA City Ethics Commission has already published its 2026 candidate guide. No one is waiting for Rob Bonta to blow the whistle to begin campaigning in LA, and as the LA Fed Tapes showed, everyone wants their maps.

Not Mayor Karen Bass, not City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto, not Councilmember Katy Yaroslasky, and most certainly not Councilmember Traci Park, who came out swinging, declaring in an email to supporters first published by Rob Quan of UnrigLA that “now is not the time to go back to the dark, chaotic days of Bonin and the Democratic Socialist (DSA) cronies.” Former Councilmember Mike Bonin was the center of much attention over the racist attacks made in the leaked recording from October 18, 2021, that captured KDL, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, former Council President Nury Martinez, and Ron Herrera, the former President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (LA Fed), discussing his adopted son in racist terms. Park added, “The DSA now feels emboldened and is coming after this seat again.” The feud between the establishment and reformers remains active.

Katy Yaroslasky, the daughter of longtime politician Zev Yaroslavsky, for her part, was more subdued, noting a “15%” reduction in homelessness in her district along with the 2028 Olympics. It’s no secret that it takes money to get things done, and assuredly, Rob Bonta, were he to run for governor, would need a boatload of it and be in a battle for endorsements. Almost stupidly, Bonta couldn’t keep his hands even out of LA politics while he was investigating them, making endorsements in both the CD14 (Miguel Santiago) and CD10 (Reggie Sawyer-Jones) primaries. Bonta’s website for a re-run at California Attorney General is still up; does the LA Times know they’re already endorsing him again? Of course, Bonta couldn’t keep himself out of LA politics again, endorsing, for example, Council District 2 candidate Adrin Nazarian in a mailer saying, “For a safer and fairer Los Angeles - Adrin is the choice!” A protege of Paul Krekorian, Nazarian prevailed over Jillian Burgos 54%-46%, with Burgos openly affiliated with the DSA. It’s safe to say that Nazarian didn’t even need the support.

So why can’t Attorney General Bonta keep a lid on his investigation, much less put a bow on it and call it a day, while at the same time playing politics? More alarmingly, in the most important lawsuit that the local and national media just won’t seem to cover, Bonta’s office is accused of colluding with LA Fed President Yvonne Wheeler to make alleged LA Fed Tapes leaker Santos Leon into a fall guy. In a statement, Bonta’s office denied meddling in the leak investigation, stating that “To protect its integrity, we are unable to comment on our ongoing investigation into the City of Los Angeles and its city council with regard to the city's redistricting process.” His communications team added, “With regard to the leaked audio, we suggest you reach out to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.” Both offices have already cleared Santos Leon along with his spouse, both of whom deny responsibility for the leak and are working on appeals against Kevin de Leon’s victory in securing an order to trial in June 2026 for invasion of privacy and negligence.

Many believe that Kevin de León is of Mexican ancestry, but he’s actually not, being of Guatemalan and Chinese blood even as his family transited through our Southern Border. This came up in 2017 as noted in the Sacramento Bee by journalist Christopher Cadelago with Kevin de León being welcomed by Bonta into the API Legislative Caucus, with a spokesman for then Assemblymember Bonta remarking on the Senate Pro Tem, “Everybody is really happy about him coming over,” adding, "My member (Bonta) described him as being very enthusiastic.” So the two know each other, and the article suggests that they may have even engaged in fundraising activities together as part of their membership. Rob Bonta promised Los Angeles that there would be an “independent investigation” two years ago, but he hasn’t delivered, and no one has any reason to trust him. Personally, I’m one for believing whistleblowers and not powerful politicians with much to lose in desperate or advantageous situations. The case against Santos Leon is exceedingly weak, and so is the one that Los Angeles has totally unfair maps from the 2020 redistricting.

The “People’s Project” was designed as a mutual aid program of sorts to support low-income residents in Los Angeles County. The program became defunct after November 2023, when the money reportedly ran out after less than 2 years. Issued by the California Workforce Development Board the $20 million as noted by the leaker of the LA Fed Tapes on Reddit “Honest-Finding-1581.” It equates the hiring of a former staffer of Nury Martinez named Andre Sandoval as an act of patronage. Curiously, Kevin de León appears with Ron Herrera in promoting the program in video from March 31, 2022. At a Workers Congress event held on the same day at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, a picture shows Ron Herrera, President Lorena Gonzalez of the California Federation of Labor, and current President Yvonne Wheeler. Reportedly, Herrera was elected unopposed in 2019 to lead the LA Fed but had reportedly lept over Wheeler to take power. Wheeler has appeared alongside Rob Bonta on stage as recently as March 2024 at the Joint Labor Legislative Conference. After the program ran out of money, numerous workers were laid off from the program, and some are reportedly still owed payments. Will the LA Fed make things right with its workers?

The LA Fed didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the payments or the current status of any remaining grant funds, as well as the relationship between Rob Bonta and Yvonne Wheeler. Working for a union comes with an obligation to travel, and along with the Reddit note entitled “LA County Federation of Labor Scam” insinuation that the "Labor movement is in bed with City Hall,” it’s the LA to Sacramento political pipeline that’s missing. Squared firmly within the context of the 2022 mayoral contest between Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, it’s not so obvious that this must be an inside job, as many have intimated. Caruso is known to be longtime friends with Gavin Newsom, who of course tapped Rob Bonta to be Attorney General in the first place. Caruso, despite being a profligate donor in Sacramento to the likes of Governor Newsom, of course, and Mark Ridley-Thomas and his son Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, has never donated to Bonta or his wife Assemblymember Mia Bonta.

Even as he showered Xavier Becerra, Steve Cooley, and Jerry Brown in support of their campaigns for California Attorney General to the tune of $85,500 out of a whopping grand total of $3,266,953.71 in 145 contributions, no money has flowed to Bonta. Former Caruso VP and Chief of Staff at USC and current USC SVP Sam Garrison is a tiny donor by contrast, but his father Jim Garrison, an insurance executive, is more of a player, dropping $145,399.28 in 113 contributions, including to Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo. This giving pattern parallels LA City Ethics records. Neither Newsom nor Bonta are discussed in the LA Fed Tapes, but Caruso and both Garrison’s are talked about, even as Sacramento is referenced in the context of a sexual harassment investigation into former State Senator Tony Mendoza, who was Kevin de León’s roommate when he served as Senate Pro Tem. De León semi-ignores Nury Martinez’s inquiry about him: “Where is that guy? “In Artesia?” goes KDL, to which Nury responds, “I never got along with him,” before KDL explains how he made his roomate’s major scandal go away. Kevin is good at dodging and also delivering.

Ironically, Tony Mendoza and Kevin de León were at the heart of an effort in 2015 that would have expanded the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to 7 seats, one less than the current Measure G would have done so. They can be seen together in a contemporary Los Angeles Times article by journalist Abby Sewell. Former Supervisor Don Knabe accuses Tony Mendoza of “trying to carve a landing spot for himself when he’s termed out of state office.” Whether Kevin de León much less Rick Caruso are trying to get back into politics remains to be seen, and even though KDL doesn’t have Caruso-type money, he’s still good at raising it, having pulled in $10,163,410.39 in 5,862 contributions lifetime in Sacramento. Still, that’s just over half of what Attorney General Rob Bonta has raised: $19,375,084.14 in 12,527 contributions. Being a politician means knowing how to raise money; it also means knowing when to pick a fight and how to do it. Until Rob Bonta actually decides which way the wind is blowing, we’ll wait and see, and that’s unfortunate considering the implications.

Except Los Angeles really can’t wait and see too much longer for him to decide whether he’s going to force us to redraw election maps. By waiting so long and doing so under such a cloud, the Attorney General has done a disservice, even as he claims to have been doing us one in the first place. His words in October 2022 are now stinging. “I want to be helpful,” De León had said about joining the API Legislative Caucus, but is Bonta now really helping LA? According to Bonta’s statement, the investigation is with the “Department of Justice’s Racial Justice Bureau within the Civil Rights Enforcement Section,” and yet there he was on October 4, 2024, in front of the cameras, saying it’s still ongoing and pleading “that he looked ‘forward to that time’ when he could say more, as quoted by Gustavo Arellano of the Los Angeles Times. The legendary sage of Orange County added in the finale, "Hey, Rob Bonta: Maybe you should investigate Latino politicians who don’t support Latinos running against non-Latinos? Before handing down a verdict, “On second thought, no: that would be like trying to count every pine needle in Yosemite.” The road to true justice across California has never been so long and winding. Let us hope that this is the way.

Attorney General Rob Bonta could have undoubtedly sewn this thing up long ago if he wanted. So why the delay? And just what the heck is happening inside the LA Fed? The only evidence they could seemingly come up with that was solid against Santos Leon and his wife was that the was a jealous husband, and his IP address was used on social media accounts. According to a source with knowledge of hacking, this is simply child’s play. Spoofing is easy. In a world of electronic deception, it’s the real power that counts—not just the forensics, but the motives for committing the crime.

Elongating an investigation to make it go away is a classic technique, and here we are with more questions than answers, and they think I’m crazy? Like a fox, and not Star Fox. Try as he may, and even with a Yale Law Degree, the Attorney General of California in the end is just another politician. The LA Fed has previously declined to comment on lawsuits and investigations. Bonta has been an active and aggressive Attorney General, but on this one I don’t trust his hand to stay out of the honeypot; there’s simply too much at stake politically. The nexus of money and power is real.

Meanwhile, he’s been busy warning consumers to watch out for holiday scams and fraud. “I urge Californians to know their rights, familiarize themselves with shopping pitfalls, and report scams and illegal activity to my office and local law enforcement agencies,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said. Moreover, he’s getting sucked even deeper into the scandal that is the FBI investigation into Mayor Sheng Thao involving political hitjobs and money, with the District Attorney’s office suggesting that Bonta’s office “disqualify” themselves from case involvement. What’s the truth of the LA Fed Tapes? Maybe we’ll find out by next June, and it will be shocking. Who exactly in Los Angeles is "Honest-Finding-1581,” and why did they want to jinx the election? The California Attorney General pointing fingers at the DA and City Attorney is hilarious.

Link: Rob Bonta Twitter Post RE: SEIU Visit

Link: 'We Will Sue ... Immediately': AG Bonta Says He's Ready to Spend $25M Battling Trump

Link: Attorney General Bonta: California Department of Justice to Investigate Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Process

Link: 2026 City of Los Angeles Candidate Guide

Link: UnrigLA Tweet: RE Traci Park Campaign

Link: Rob Bonta 2026 Attorney General Campaign Website

Link: Adrin Nazarian - Rob Bonta Endorsement

Link: His family history is out, and now Kevin de León has joined a new caucus

Link: The People's Project - Powered by the LA Fed

Link: Workers Congress 2022

Link: Ron Herrera Sworn in as the President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor

Link: California Federation of Labor Twitter Post RE: Rob Bonta