LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Katie Porter, a former member of Congress from Orange County who ran for a U.S. Senate seat and lost in the primary election in March 2024, is running for governor of California, she announced in a video Tuesday.
Porter joins an already crowded field for governor, a position held by Gavin Newson who is being termed out in the next election.
“What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. Fresh blood and new ideas. Leaders with the backbone to fight for what’s right,” Porter said in a video announcing her campaign. “That’s why I am running for governor.”
Her campaign announcement included a desire to protect California from policies set by President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withholding disaster relief, attacked the rights of Californians and cheated “working families to benefit himself and his cronies.”
Porter is the latest prominent candidate to join the race for governor of California. One candidate who has not yet entered the race is former Vice President Kamala Harris. She said she would make her decision at the end of the summer to run for governor in 2026. Her name recognition and fundraising success would make her a favorite to win the election.
Porter said in December at a postelection conference at UC Irvine, if Harris joined the race for governor, it would prompt some Democrats to drop out.
“If Vice President Harris were to choose to run, I am certain that that would have a near field-clearing effect on the Democratic side,” Porter said.
Other announced candidates include Democrats Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Controller Betty Yee, state schools chief Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and businessman Stephen Cloobeck, as well as Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Porter, 51, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives but did not seek re-election in 2024. Instead, she ran for the U.S. Senate seat won by Adam Schiff.
Porter returned to teaching at UC Irvine’s law school after losing the election for U.S. Senate.
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