Former Huntington Beach city attorney, Newsom critic, to run for state attorney general
Michael Gates, the former Huntington Beach City Councilman who spent his time as a staunch opponent of California’s liberal politics, is running for state attorney general as part of a slate with Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.
Gates, 50, announced the launch of his campaign for the top legislative job in the state during an event at the Huntington Beach Pier on Wednesday led by Hilton, former Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, who is running with Hilton for Lieutenant Governor, and a number of supporters.
“California has a very high cost of living and very high taxes, which puts a strain on families, and the Sacramento elite continues to devise ways to raise taxes while leaving our streets unsafe for our families and our businesses…” Gates said. “Sacramento has proven that it doesn’t work at all with Californians every day.”
Gates’ speech when he launched his campaign had the same tone as the messages he used in his position as the Huntington Beach City Representative where he placed himself directly against the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the state, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and current Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
Bonta this week announced that he will run for re-election, opting not to run for governor of California. As attorney general, Bonta has sued the Trump administration more than 50 times, calling the president’s policies “brutal, inhumane, illegal” and, in many cases, unconstitutional.
Gates, a lifelong Republican, was first elected Huntington City Councilor in 2014 and has been re-elected twice. He held this role until last year when he was appointed as the deputy attorney general in the Department of Justice in the Human Rights Division. After 10 months with the federal government, Gates announced that he was resigning to spend more time with his family. He has been rehired to serve as an assistant city attorney in Huntington Beach.
During his time in charge of the city, Gates clashed with the state over voter identification, housing rights, immigration and other issues with mixed results.
In recent years, the city successfully sued the state to recover millions of dollars in redevelopment agency loans from waterfront construction and senior affordable housing projects.
But legal disputes over voter identification and housing have been fruitless. Last year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Huntington Beach ordinance that would have required residents to show identification to vote in local elections.
The city’s legal battle over housing needs also came to a head last year when the state Supreme Court refused to review an appeals court ruling in favor of the state that forced the city to comply with the government’s mandate to build affordable housing. Huntington Beach has argued its designation as a charter city exempts them from state mandates.
“This man, Michael Gates, is the hero we need in California,” Hilton said Wednesday, to cheers from the crowd. “You know better than anyone because you led that rebellion right here in Huntington Beach.”
