THE BUZZ: Attorney General Rob Bonta entered office as one of the most liberal AGs in the nation. Which is why his recent rhetoric around the fentanyl crisis has advocates on both sides of the aisle doing a double take. Both Republicans and Democrats say Bonta, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom, has taken a noticeably harsher approach in recent months to dealers of the synthetic opioid, which last year killed more than 6,000 Californians. The state has sent law enforcement officers into fentanyl hotbeds like San Francisco, and the attorney general has touted the DOJ’s help in securing murder convictions for fentanyl dealers — a tactic opposed by criminal justice reform advocates. “Let this be a warning to the poison peddlers in California's neighborhoods: We will hold you accountable,” Bonta said in a recent statement highlighting the sentencing of a Roseville man for fentanyl-related homicide earlier this month. The fentanyl epidemic has widened a rift in the California Democratic Party between those seeking to ease decades of mass incarceration and those feeling the pressure to act quickly. The divide could grow more prominent when the legislature returns in January and the election cycle ramps up. Bonta rejects the notion that there’s been any change in his approach since entering office. But conservative lawmakers and advocates say they’re grateful, if not surprised, to see him taking stronger stances. "He's almost sounding like me,” Republican Assemblymember Joe Patterson said about Bonta. “And that's literally mind-blowing." The attorney general said his department has been fighting fentanyl for years, targeting criminal enterprises, distribution networks and smugglers. And the DOJ-led investigation unit in Placer County, which has assisted in several fentanyl homicide cases, has long been focused on this issue. "It's important to adjust to a challenge as it evolves and take it on from every appropriate angle … and we've been doing all those things,” Bonta said. “The fact that some people have been noticing it now doesn't mean we haven't been doing it for years." Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire was the first prosecutor in the state to secure a murder conviction for a fentanyl overdose earlier this year. He said he’s grateful for the DOJ’s support, but disappointed that neither Bonta nor Newsom supported a bill known as “Alexandra’s Law” that would have helped establish the legal groundwork to secure convictions in deaths involving fentanyl. "I am very pleased, lately, to have seen the governor and the attorney general embrace it, but they did not start it,” Gire said, speaking of the push for murder charges. “They have, in my opinion, contributed less than they should have because I think their voices would have been very strong on the policy." At the same time, criminal justice reform groups who have supported Bonta are urging him — and Newsom — to pump the brakes. "There has definitely been a shift in their rhetoric,” said Anne Irwin, founder and director of Smart Justice California, a left-leaning criminal justice organization that was an early and major backer of Bonta’s AG bid. Irwin called the homicide approach to overdoses “worrisome,” and acknowledged that officials are facing significant public pressure to act. Though he hasn’t officially declared his candidacy, Bonta has said he is considering a run for governor in 2026. “I think policymakers are desperate to have something to show for their concern,” Irwin said. “And they feel that constituents are calling out for them to do something.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.
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