among the people in attendance was sylvia guzman a longtime oakland resident and community advocate.t time hearing from everyone. >> reporter: guzman and most alameda county voters know very little about the candidates since their names emerged just a couple of weeks ago. venus johnson is generally viewed as the front-runner, given amount of endorsements. johnson is the california chief deputy attorney general. her boss, attorney general rob bonta, is endorsing her for the job. so are the district attorneys in san francisco and contra costa counties. >> i'm home grown, born and raised in oakland. this is my community. i run a $1.3 billion prosecutor's office at the attorney general's office, and i have executive experience. but i'm also a seasoned prosecutor. >> reporter: for the most part, all the candidates provided similar answers at this forum, talking about leading a balanced approach when it comes to criminal justice. this man says he has the experience to strike that balance. he's the city attorney for alameda. >> i have been the head of an office for six years. so i know how

among the people in attendance was sylvia guzman, a long- time oakland resident and a community advocateral. i'm still learning from all of them. this was my first time hearing from everyone. >> reporter: guzman and most alameda county voters know very little about the candidates since their names emerged just a couple of weeks ago. venus johnson is vieweded as the front- runner, the california chief deputy attorney general. her boss, attorney general rob bonta, is endorsing her for the job. so are the district attorneys in san francisco and contra costa counties. >> i'm homegrown, born and raised in oakland. this is my community. i run a $1. 3 billion prosecutor's office at the attorney general's office. i have executive experience. but i'm also a seasoned prosecutor. >> reporter: for the most part, all the candidates provided similar answers at this forum. talking about leading with a balanced approach when it comes to criminal justice. yibin shen says he has the experience to strike that balance. he is the city attorney for alameda. >> i'm the only candidate who is currently the head

two candidates said invidious to explain policies and among the people in attendance was sylvia guzman, a long time open resident and a community advocate. >> still very neutral and learning from them. this was my first time hearing from everyone. >> reporter: most alameda county voters know little about the candidate since their names emerged just a couple of weeks ago. venus johnson is generally viewed as a front runner given the amount of endorsements. johnson is a california chief deputy attorney general and her boss, attorney general rob bonta is endorsing her for the job. so i the district attorney's in san francisco. and contra costa counties. >> i am homegrown and born and raised in oakland. this is my community. i have run a $1.3 billion attorney general's office and i have executive experience, but i am also a seasoned prosecutor. >> reporter: for the most part, the candidates provided similar answers at the form talking about leading with a balanced approach when it comes to criminal justice. he said he has the experience to get the balance and he has the city attorney for a

among the people in attendance was sylvia guzman a longtime oakland resident and a community advocate. >> this was my first time hearing from everyone. >> reporter: guzman and most alameda county voters know little about the candidates, since their names emerged a couple of weeks ago. venus johnson is generally viewed as the front-runner. johnson is the california chief deputy attorney general. her boss, attorney general rob banta, is endorsing her for the job. so are the district attorneys in san francisco and contra costa counties. >> i'm homegrown, born and raised in oakland. this is my community. i run a $1.3 billion prosecutors office at the attorney general's office, and i have executive experience. but i'm also a seasoned prosecutor. >> reporter: for the most part, all the candidates provided similar answers at this forum, talking about leading with a balanced approach when it comes to criminal justice. shen says he has the experience to strike that balance. he is the city attorney for alameda. >> i'm the only candidate who is current through head of an office, and i have been