The general election for the attorney general of California will take place on November 8, 2022. In total, candidates running for California attorney general have raised $15.1 million, received $140,000 in loans, and spent $20.3 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Jun. 30, 2022. The top-two primary for this race was held on June 7, 2022.
Here’s the breakdown for the two candidates who are still in the running:
Active Attorney General Candidates’ Campaign Finance, 1/1/2021- 6/30/2022
| Candidate | Party | Contributions | Loans | Expenditures |
| Rob Bonta (Incumbent) | Democratic | $9,075,402.47 | $0 | $12,758,995.49 |
| Nathan Hochman | Republican | $3,087,574.43 | $50,000 | $2,911,520.52 |
The remaining $2,973,692 raised in the race for California attorney general went to candidates who did not advance to the general election.
Total fundraising in eight attorney general races in the 2022 election cycle
A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for re-election and number of candidates in a race, can influence donor activity. Here is how total fundraising by all candidates for California attorney general compares to the seven other attorney general races with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:
| Rank | State | Total Donations | Total Candidates | Active Candidates | Available Reporting Period |
| 1 | Texas | $30,761,114 | 11 | 3 | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022 |
| 2 | California | $15,136,669.34 | 5 | 2 | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022 |
| 3 | Arizona | $9,199,057 | 13 | 3 | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022 |
| 4 | Florida | $7,141,500 | 4 | 2 | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022 |
| 5 | Michigan | $5,276,457.07 | 6 | 4 | 1/1/2021 – 8/22/2022 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | $3,763,143 | 6 | 2 | 1/1/2021 – 7/25/2022 |
| 7 | Minnesota | $2,907,519 | 8 | 2 | 1/1/2021 – 7/18/2022 |
| 8 | Ohio | $2,867,606 | 2 | 2 | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022 |
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active California candidate PACs submitted to the California Secretary of State. Political expenditures that are not controlled by candidates or their campaigns, known as satellite spending, are not included in candidate totals.
Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.
| Name of Report | Reporting Period | Deadline |
| 2022 Jan Semiannual | 7/1/21 – 12/31/21 | 1/31/2022 |
| 2022 1st Pre-Primary | 1/1/22 – 4/23/22 | 4/28/2022 |
| 2022 2nd Pre-Primary | 4/24/22 – 5/21/22 | 5/26/2022 |
| 2022 July Semiannual | 5/22/22 – 6/30/22 | 8/1/2022 |
| 2022 1st Pre-General | 7/1/22 – 9/24/22 | 9/29/2022 |
| 2022 2nd Pre-General | 9/25/22 – 10/22/22 | 10/27/2022 |
| 2023 Jan Semiannual | 10/23/22 – 12/31/22 | 1/31/2023 |
This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.
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