Katie Porter enters California governor’s race as Harris’ possible entry looms

The California governor’s race isn’t waiting for former Vice President Kamala Harris to make up her mind whether she’s going to run. Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who represented Orange County in the US House for three terms, announced Tuesday she’s entering the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited from running again.

The California governor’s race isn’t waiting for former Vice President Kamala Harris to make up her mind whether she’s going to run. Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who represented Orange County in the US House for three terms, announced Tuesday she’s entering the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited from running again. Porter enters a field that already includes Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Senate Leader Toni Atkins and former state Controller Betty Yee. Last year, Porter finished a distant third in the state’s top primary for an open US Senate seat that was ultimately won by Adam Schiff. Porter, a former law student and protégé of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, often went viral for using calculations on a white board in congressional committee hearings—and she has a white board as part of the background of her video announcement. The thrust of Porter’s announcement video is focused on national politics, featuring shots of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Both her script and the imagery behind it reference a more open approach to immigration while fighting corruption, climate change and high costs. “What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit,” Porter says. “As governor, I won’t ever back down when Trump’s hurting Californians.” With the long recovery and rebuilding ahead after the Los Angeles wildfires, Porter makes a specific reference to pushing for increased firefighter pay while in Congress. In a mark of a race that will likely be decided by which Democrat gets the most support, she also says she’s committed to “abortion rights, LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights,” while saying she’s against “Big Oil, Big Banks or Big Pharma screwing people over.”