Attorney General Becerra to face Republican in November election

Incumbent Attorney General Xavier Becerra got the result he wanted in Tuesday’s primary.

Becerra, a Democrat appointed last year by Gov. Jerry Brown, received 45 percent of the vote and will face a Republican opponent in the fall. Retired El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Steven C. Bailey came in second with 25 percent.

According to a Capitol Weekly/Political Data Inc. exit poll, Becerra won four out of every five Democratic votes cast and nearly half of Independents.

This left Democratic Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones in fourth place with 15 percent, a few thousand votes behind Republican attorney Eric P. Early.

According to the exit poll, Bailey grabbed the second spot beating Early among Republicans by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. He won the California Republican Party endorsement in May.

“As a first-time candidate, to receive over half a million votes and beat the sitting Insurance Commissioner is an incredible feat,” said Early campaign spokesman Jake Hoffman in an emailed statement.

“Congratulations to AG Xavier Becerra on his victory last night,” Jones tweeted early Wednesday morning. “I endorse his candidacy for AG & encourage CA to unite in supporting him.”

Becerra quickly thanked Jones for the endorsement and released a statement thanking voters. On paper at least, he faces an easier race than he would have against Jones, a Democrat and statewide officeholder for the past eight years.

Jones still technically has a lawsuit challenging Becerra’s use of the Sacramento courtroom used by the 3rd District Court of Appeal to film campaign spots. Jones v. Becerra, BC707549 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 24, 2018).

The complaint did not receive a hearing before the election and is not currently scheduled for one, according to the court website. Calls and emails to the Jones campaign were not returned.

Reached on Wednesday, Bailey indicated he will base his general election appeal on “issues of concerns to all Californians.”

“We did exactly what we set out to do,” Bailey said. “We always said we were aiming for the top two.”

The numbers suggest he has an uphill climb. The two Republicans received 40 percent of the vote compared with 60 percent for the two Democrats.

As of the end of May, Becerra was sitting on nearly $1.6 million in campaign funds. Bailey lists less than $9,000 cash on hand but said he expects fundraising to pick up now that he is in the November election.

Bailey also faces a Commission of Judicial Performance misconduct hearing set for Sept. 4. The CJP has alleged 10 counts, including campaigning for attorney general while still a sitting judge. He has denied the charges.

“I quite frankly believe that the Commission on Judicial Performance is interfering with a statewide campaign for political purposes,” Bailey said. “If you file allegations two days before the end of the [campaign] filing period, it’s not because you’re concerned about what I did on the bench.”

Early’s campaign is holding out hope that he may end up in the November election after all.

Former Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, an Early supporter filed a lawsuit last month alleging Becerra lacks the legal qualifications to be attorney general and seeking to have him removed from the ballot. Early v. Becerra, 80002902 (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed May 29, 2018).

The complaint cites a California Government Code section requiring “a candidate for Attorney General be an attorney entitled to practice before the California Supreme Court for five years immediately preceding his or her election.” Becerra let his State Bar membership go inactive between 1991 and 2017, when Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the open attorney general job.

While the case is widely considered a long shot, if successful Early would slide into the No. 2 spot.

This would create a very unusual situation: a general election between two Republicans in an overwhelmingly blue state.

At a Wednesday hearing, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi approved an expedited schedule for the case. He set the next hearing for July 13.

Brian T. Hildreth, a partner with the Sacramento-based Republican election law firm Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, said the bid faces procedural hurdles but might be theoretically possible.

“Mr. Early’s lawsuit initially was a pre-election lawsuit,” said Hildreth, who is not a party to the case. “Now that the [primary] election is over, that lawsuit is probably null. There is, however, a mechanism for post-primary election lawsuits seeking removal of a candidate from the general election ballot.”

One of Hildreth’s colleagues, Charles H. Bell Jr., helped represent plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit against newly elected Attorney General Jerry Brown in 2006. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian dismissed the case, saying it was sufficient that Brown had been admitted to practice law in California, regardless of inactive status.