{"id":271148,"date":"2026-04-16T18:18:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271148\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T18:18:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:18:03","slug":"gates-pledges-tougher-crime-enforcement-and-fraud-crackdown-in-challenge-to-ag-rob-bonta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271148\/","title":{"rendered":"Gates pledges tougher crime enforcement and fraud crackdown in challenge to AG Rob Bonta"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) Michael Gates, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Trump administration and the former Huntington Beach city attorney, is running for California attorney general, saying the state needs a change in direction.<\/p>\n

Gates said he is entering the race because he believes \u201cCalifornia is in crisis right now and I think there is a real opportunity to rescue it frankly,\u201d pointing to \u201chigh gas prices, high taxes, high crime, high homeless\u201d and adding that \u201cCalifornians are pretty fed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reducing crime would be among his top priorities if elected next November. <\/p>\n

\"Gates<\/p>\n

Gates pledges tougher crime enforce and fraud crackdown in challenge to AG Rob Bonta{ }(Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to tackle crime. We\u2019re going to be tough on crime, make crime illegal again,\u201d Gates said. <\/p>\n

He said he would \u201cenforce Prop 36<\/a> on day one, with or without funding,\u201d and criticized what he described as \u201ca lot of excuses in Sacramento currently about why they are not being tough on crime and enforcing Prop 36.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gates also said he would take a more direct role with law enforcement leaders across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the attorney general, I have purview over all 58 district attorneys and all 58 sheriffs, which means I am going to be dealing with them on a daily basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said cracking down on fraud statewide would be another major focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be very aggressive with basically getting justice on the one hand against the criminals who have stolen the money from the taxpayer and those who needed it,\u201d Gates said. <\/p>\n

\"Gates<\/p>\n

Gates pledges tougher crime enforce and fraud crackdown in challenge to AG Rob Bonta (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also restoring the money back to the taxpayer because they were the ones who were ultimately robbed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gates contrasted himself with his opponent, current Attorney General Rob Bonta, and said voters should look to his background and approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy record speaks for itself,\u201d Gates said. <\/p>\n

\"Gates<\/p>\n

Gates pledges tougher crime enforce and fraud crackdown in challenge to AG Rob Bonta (AP Photo\/Juliana Yamada, File)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of performance that Californians are going to get when I\u2019m in office as the Attorney General. They\u2019re going to get a fighter. I\u2019m not going to go to Sacramento to make friends. Let\u2019s just make that abundantly clear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) Michael Gates, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Trump administration and the former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-271148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}