A year after losing her bid for Senate, Democratic former Rep. Katie Porter is running for governor of California.
The whiteboard-wielding law professor who rode a wave of anti-Trump resistance and flipped an Orange County district blue in 2018 is hoping to replicate her success in an already crowded race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In her launch video released Tuesday, Porter said California needs “a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit, fresh blood and new ideas and leaders with the backbone to fight for what’s right.”
Porter’s entry comes as state Democrats await a decision by former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is considering a gubernatorial bid in the state she once served as attorney general and senator and is expected to decide by the end of the summer, Politico reported. Other Democrats already in the race include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee and former state legislative leader Toni Atkins.
Under California law, all candidates, regardless of party, will run on the same primary ballot, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the November general election.
Porter, who holds degrees from Harvard and Yale, was a consumer law attorney and a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who had never held elected office before unseating Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in 2018.
In Congress, Porter reveled in her image as an agent of change. She railed against earmarks, arguing that such “congressionally directed spending” reinforces inequities and drains resources from underserved communities.
She proved to be a prodigious fundraiser, despite renouncing corporate PAC money, and a skilled politician whose pointed questioning and sharp criticisms of everyone from Trump administration officials to corporate CEOs racked up millions of views on YouTube.
Porter launched a bid for Senate last cycle for the seat formerly held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. But in a crowded race that featured more than two dozen candidates, she was outraised by fellow Democratic Rep. Adam B. Schiff and wound up placing third in the primary, behind Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey. Schiff went on to easily win the Senate seat in November.
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