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Tag: katie porter

  • Commentary: Fix the potholes or fight the power? That’s the choice facing California’s next governor

    You may have missed it, what with President Trump’s endless pyrotechnics, but California voters will decide in November who succeeds Gavin Newsom, the highest-profile governor since the Terminator returned to Hollywood.

    Unfortunately for those attempting to civically engage, the current crop of contenders is, shall we say, less than enthralling.

    In alphabetical order (because there is seriously no prohibitive front-runner), the major candidates are Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Ian Calderon, Steve Hilton, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, John Slavet, Tom Steyer, Eric Swalwell, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee.

    Whew! (Pause to catch breath.)

    Armed with that knowledge, you can now go out and win yourself a few bar bets by asking someone to name, say, even two of those running.

    Meantime, fear not. Your friendly columnists Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria have surveyed the field, weighed the odds, pondered California’s long history and concluded … they have absolutely no clue what will happen in the June 2 primary, much less who’ll take the oath of office come next January.

    Here, they discuss the race that has Californians sitting on neither pins nor needles.

    Chabria: Mark, I do this for a living and I’m having trouble summoning up any interest in this race — yet, anyway.

    Part of my problem is that national events are so all-consuming and fast-moving that it’s hard to worry about potholes. I admit, I appreciate that our White House-contending governor is fighting the big fight. But remind me again, what’s a governor supposed to do?

    Barabak: End homelessness. Elevate our public schools to first-class rank. Make housing and college tuition affordable. Eliminate crime. End disease and poverty. Put a chicken in every pot. Make pigs fly and celestial angels sing. And then, in their second year …

    Seriously, there’s a pretty large gap between what voters would like to see happen and what a governor — any governor — can plausibly deliver. That said, if our next chief executive can help bring about meaningful improvement in just a few of those areas, pigs and angels excepted, I’d venture to say a goodly number of Californians would be pleased.

    Broadly speaking, my sense when talking to voters is they want our next governor to push back on Trump and his most egregious excesses. But not as a means of raising their national profile or positioning themselves for a run at the White House. And not to the exclusion of bettering their lives by paying attention to the nitty and the gritty, like making housing and higher education more readily available and, yes, fixing potholes.

    Chabria: All that is fair enough. As the mom of two teens, I’d especially like to see our university system be more affordable and accessible, so we all have our personal priorities. Let’s agree to this starting point: The new governor can’t just chew gum and walk. She or he must be able to eat a full lunch while running.

    But so far, candidates haven’t had their policy positions break through to a big audience, state-focused or not — and many of them share broadly similar positions. Let’s look at the bits of daylight that separate them because, Republicans aside, there aren’t canyon-size differences among the many candidates.

    San José Mayor Matt Mahan, the newest entry in the race, is attempting to position himself as a “can’t-we-all-just-get-along” centrist. How do you think that will go over with voters?

    Barabak: You’re having me tiptoe uncomfortably close to the Make A Prediction Zone, which I assiduously avoid. As I’ve said before, I’m smart enough to know what I don’t know. (Many readers will doubtless question the underlying premise of the former if not the latter part of that statement.)

    I think there is at least a potential for Mahan to tap into a desire among voters to lower the hostilities just a bit and ease up on our constant partisan war-footing.

    You might not know it if you marinate in social media, or watch the political shout-fest shows where, as in nature, the loudest voices carry. But there are a great many people working two or even three jobs, ferrying their kids to soccer practice, worrying about paying their utility and doctor bills, caring for elderly parents or struggling in other ways to keep their heads above water. And they’re less captivated by the latest snappy clap-back on TikTok than looking for help dealing with the many challenges they face.

    I was struck by something Katie Porter said when we recently sat down for a conversation in San Francisco. The former Orange County congresswoman can denigrate Trump with the best of ‘em. But she said, “I am very leery of anyone who does not acknowledge that we had problems and policy challenges long before Donald Trump ever raised his orange head on the political horizon.”

    California’s homelessness and affordability crises were years in the making, she noted, and need to be addressed as such.

    I heard Antonio Villaraigosa suggest something similar in last week‘s gubernatorial debate, when the former Los Angeles mayor noted the state has spent billions of dollars in recent years trying to drastically reduce homelessness with, at best, middling results. “We cannot be afraid to look in the mirror,” he said.

    That suggests to me Mahan is not the only candidate who appreciates that simply saying “Trump = Bad” over and over is not what voters want to hear.

    Chabria: Certainly potholes and high electricity bills existed before Trump. But if the midterms don’t favor Democrats, the next governor will probably face a generational challenge to protect the civil rights of residents of this diverse state. It’s not about liking or disliking Trump, but ensuring that our governor has a plan if attacks on immigrants, the LBGTQ+ community and citizens in general grow worse.

    I do think this will matter to voters — but I agree with you that candidates can’t simply rage against Trump. They have to offer some substance.

    Porter, Swalwell and Becerra, who have the most national experience and could be expected to articulate that sort of vision, haven’t done much other than to commit to the fight. Steyer and Thurmond want to abolish ICE, which a governor couldn’t do. Mahan has said focusing on state policy is the best offense.

    I don’t think this has to be a charisma-driven vision, which is what Newsom has so effectively offered. But it needs to bring resoluteness in a time of fear, which none of the candidates to my mind have been able to project so far.

    But this all depends on election results in November. If Democrats take Congress and are able to exert a check to this terrible imbalance, then bring on the asphalt and fix the roads. I think a lot of what voters want from a governor won’t fully be known until after November.

    Barabak: The criticism of this collective field is that it’s terminally boring, as if we’re looking to elect a stand-up comic, a chanteuse or a juggler. I mean, this is the home of Hollywood! Isn’t it the birthright of every California citizen to be endlessly entertained?

    At least that’s what the pundits and political know-it-alls, stifling yawns as they constantly refresh their feeds on Bluesky or X, would have you believe.

    Voters elected Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor — that’s two movie stars in the state’s 175-year history — and, from the way the state is often perceived, you’d think celebrity megawattage is one of the main prerequisites for a chief executive.

    But if you look back, California has seen a lot more George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis types, which is to say bland-persona governors whom no one would mistake for box-office gold.

    It seems to me no coincidence that Schwarzenegger, who arrived as a political novelty, was replaced by Jerry Brown, who was as politically tried-and-true as they come. That political pendulum never stops swinging.

    Which suggests voters will be looking for someone less like our gallivanting, movie matinee governor and someone more inclined to keep their head down in Sacramento and focus on the state and its needs.

    Who will that be? I wouldn’t wage a nickel trying to guess. Would you care to?

    Chabria: I certainly don’t care to predict, but I’ll say this: We may not need or get another Terminator. But one of these candidates needs to put some pepper flakes in the paste if they want to break out of the pack.

    Mark Z. Barabak, Anita Chabria

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  • Commentary: They said Katie Porter was dead politically. I checked her pulse

    SAN FRANCISCO — Katie Porter’s still standing, which is saying something.

    The last time a significant number of people tuned into California‘s low-frequency race for governor was in October, when Porter’s political obituary was being written in bold type.

    Immediately after a snappish and off-putting TV interview, Porter showed up in a years-old video profanely reaming a staff member for — the humanity! — straying into the video frame during her meeting with a Biden Cabinet member.

    Not a good look for a candidate already facing questions about her temperament and emotional regulation. (Hang on, gentle reader, we’ll get to that whole gendered double-standard thing in a moment.)

    The former Orange County congresswoman had played to the worst stereotypes and that was that. Her campaign was supposedly kaput.

    But, lo, these several months later, Porter remains positioned exactly where she’d been before, as one of the handful of top contenders in a race that remains stubbornly formless and utterly wide open.

    Did she ever think of exiting the contest, as some urged, and others plainly hoped to see? (The surfacing of that surly 2021 video, with the timing and intentionality of a one-two punch, was clearly not a coincidence.)

    No, she said, not for a moment.

    “Anyone who thinks that you can just push over Katie Porter has never tried to do it,” she said.

    Porter apologized and expressed remorse for her tetchy behavior. She promised to do better.

    “You definitely learn from your mistakes,” the Democrat said this week over a cup of chai in San Francisco’s Financial District. “I really have and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how do I show Californians who I am and that I really care about people who work for me. I need to earn back their trust and that’s what campaigns are literally about.”

    She makes no excuse for acting churlish and wouldn’t bite when asked about that double standard — though she did allow as how Democratic leader John Burton, who died not long before people got busy digging Porter’s grave, was celebrated for his gruff manner and lavish detonation of f-bombs.

    “It was a reminder,” she said, pivoting to the governor’s race, “that there have been other politicians who come on hot, come on strong and fight for what’s right and righteous and California has embraced them.”

    Voters, she said, “want someone who will not back down.”

    Porter warmed to the subject.

    “If you are never gonna hurt anyone’s feelings, you are never gonna take [JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive] Jamie Dimon to task for not thinking about how his workers can’t afford to make ends meet. If you want everyone to love you, you are never gonna say to a big pharma CEO, ‘You didn’t make this cancer drug anymore. You just got richer, right?’ That is a feistiness that I’m proud of.”

    At the same, Porter suggested, she wants to show there’s more to her persona than the whiteboard-wielding avenger that turned her into a viral sensation. The inquisitorial stance was, she said, her role as a congressional overseer charged with holding people accountable. Being governor is different. More collaborative. Less confrontational.

    Her campaign approach has been to “call everyone, go everywhere” — even places Porter may not be welcomed — to listen and learn, build relationships and show “my ability to craft a compromise, my ability to learn and to change my mind.”

    “All of that is really hard to convey,” she said, “in those whiteboard moments.”

    The rap on this year’s pack of gubernatorial hopefuls is they’re a collective bore, as though the lack of A-list sizzle and failure to throw off sparks is some kind of mortal sin.

    Porter doesn’t buy that.

    “When we say boring, I think what we’re really saying is ‘I’m not 100% sure how all this is going to work out.’ People are waiting for some thing to happen, some coronation of our next governor. We’re not gonna have that.”

    Gavin Newsom, she noted, was a high-profile former San Francisco mayor who spent eight years as lieutenant governor before winning the state’s top job. His predecessor was the dynastic Jerry Brown.

    None of those running this time have that political pedigree, or the Sacramento backgrounds of Newsom or Brown, which, Porter suggested, is not a bad thing.

    “I actually think this race has the potential to be really, really exciting for California,” she said. “… I think everyone in this race comes in with a little bit of a fresh energy, and I think that’s really good and healthy.”

    Crowding into the conversation was, inevitably, Donald Trump, the sun around which today’s entire political universe turns.

    Of course, Porter said, as governor she would stand up to the president. His administration’s actions in Minneapolis have been awful. His stalling on disaster relief for California is grotesque.

    But, she said, Trump didn’t cause last year’s firestorm. He didn’t make housing in California obscenely expensive for the last many decades.

    “When my children say ‘I don’t know if I want to go to college in California because we don’t have enough dorm housing,’ Trump has done plenty of horrible attacks on higher ed,” Porter said. “But that’s a homegrown problem that we need to tackle.”

    Indeed, she’s “very leery of anyone who does not acknowledge that we had problems and policy challenges long before Donald Trump ever raised his orange head on the political horizon.”

    Although California needs “someone who’s going to [buffer] us against Trump,” Porter said, “you can’t make that an excuse for why you are not tackling these policy changes that need to be.”

    She hadn’t finished her tea, but it was time to go. Porter gathered her things.

    She’d just spoken at an Urban League forum in San Francisco and was heading across the Bay Bridge to address union workers in Oakland.

    The June 2 primary is some ways off. But Porter remains in the fight.

    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Outbursts by Katie Porter threaten gubernatorial ambitions

    Former Rep. Katie Porter’s gubernatorial prospects are uncertain in the aftermath of the emergence of two videos that underscore long-swirling rumors that the Irvine Democrat is thin-skinned and a short-tempered boss.

    How Porter responds in coming days could determine her viability in next year’s race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to both Democratic and Republican political strategists.

    “Everyone’s had a bad day. Everyone’s done something that they wouldn’t want broadcast, right? You don’t want your worst boss moment, your worst employment moment, your worst personal moment, captured on camera,” said Christine Pelosi, a prominent Democratic activist from the Bay Area and a daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

    “I definitely think that it’s a question of what comes next,” said Pelosi, who had endorsed former Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis before she dropped out of the race.

    Porter, the 2026 gubernatorial candidate who has a narrow edge in the polls, came under scrutiny this week when a recording emerged of her brusquely threatening to end a television interview after growing increasingly irritated by the reporter’s questions.

    After CBS reporter Julie Watts asked Porter what she would say to the nearly 6.1 million Californians who voted for President Trump in 2024, the UC Irvine law professor responded that she didn’t need their support if she competed against a Republican in the November 2026 runoff election.

    After Watts asked follow-up questions, Porter accused Watts of being “unnecessarily argumentative,” held up her hands towards the reporter’s face and later said, “I don’t want this all on camera.”

    The following day, a 2021 video emerged of Porter berating a staffer who corrected her about electric vehicle information she was discussing with a member of the Biden administration. “Get out of my f— shot!” Porter said to the young woman after she came into view in the background of the video conference. Porter’s comments in the video were first reported by Politico.

    Porter did not respond to multiple interview requests. She put out a statement about the 2021 video, saying: “It’s no secret I hold myself and my staff to a high standard, and that was especially true as a member of Congress. I have sought to be more intentional in showing gratitude to my staff for their important work.”

    Several Porter supporters voiced support for her after the videos went viral on social media and became the focus of national news coverage as well as programs such as “The View.”

    “In this critical moment in our country, we don’t need to be polite, go along to get along, establishment politicians that keep getting run over by the opposition,” wrote Peter Finn and Chris Griswold, co-chairs of Teamsters California, which has endorsed Porter and represents 250,000 workers in the state. “We need strong leaders like Katie Porter that are willing to call it like it is and stand up and fight for everyday Californians.”

    EMILYs List, which supports Democratic women who back abortion rights, and Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who won the congressional seat Porter left to unsuccessfully run for U.S. Senate last year, are among those who also released statements supporting the embattled Democratic candidate.

    Lorena Gonzalez, president of the influential California Labor Federation, alluded to growing rumors in the state’s Capitol before the videos emerged that powerful Democratic and corporate interests dislike Porter and have been trying to coax another Democrat into the race.

    “The only thing that is clear after the past few days is that Katie Porter’s willingness to take on powerful interests has the status quo very afraid and very motivated,” Gonzalez said in a statement.

    There has been a concerted effort to urge Sen. Alex Padilla into the race. The San Fernando Valley Democrat has said he won’t make a decision until after voters decide Proposition 50, the redistricting proposal he and other state Democratic leaders are championing, on the November ballot.

    A pivotal indicator of Porter’s plans is whether she takes part in two events that she is scheduled to participate in next week — a virtual forum Tuesday evening with the California Working Families Party and a live UC Student and Policy Center Q&A on Friday in Sacramento.

    Democratic gubernatorial rivals in California’s 2026 race for governor seized on the videos. Former state Controller Betty Yee called on Porter to drop out of the race, and wealthy businessman Stephen Cloobeck and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacked her in ads about the uproar.

    Former Sen. Barbara Boxer said she saw the same traits Porter displayed in the videos — anger, a lack of respect, privilege — previously, notably in the 2024 Senate contest, which is why she decided to back then-Rep. Adam Schiff, who ultimately won the race. Boxer has endorsed Villaraigosa for governor.

    “I had a bad taste in my mouth from that experience,” Boxer said, growing upset while describing her reaction to the video of Porter cursing at her staffer. “This video tells us everything we need to know about former Congresswoman Porter. She is unfit to serve. Period.”

    Disagreements arose between Boxer and her staff during her more than four decades in elected office, she said.

    But even when “we weren’t happy with each other, there was always respect, because I knew they deserved it, and I knew without them, I was nothing,” Boxer said, adding that men‘s and women’s behavior as elected officials must be viewed through the same lens. “We are equal; we are not better. She’s proof of that.”

    Beth Miller, a veteran Sacramento-based GOP strategist who has worked with female politicians since the 1980s, said women are held to a different standard by voters, though it has eased in recent years.

    “In some ways, this plays into that bias, but in other ways, it unfortunately sets women back because it underscores a concern that people have,” Miller said. “And that’s really disappointing and discouraging to a lot of female politicians who don’t ascribe to that type of behavior.”

    Miller also pointed to the dichotomy of Porter’s terse reaction in the television interview to Porter championing herself in Congress as a fearless and aggressive inquisitor of CEOs and government leaders.

    “You exhibit one kind of behavior on the one hand and another when it affects you,” Miller said. “And you know, governor of California is not a walk in the park, and so I don’t think she did herself any favors at all. And I think it really is a window into who she is.”

    Seema Mehta

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  • Katie Porter rival on her “anger” issues and Newsom’s Trump takedowns

    Ethan Agarwal, a California Democrat gubernatorial candidate challenging former Representative Katie Porter for the state’s top job, told Newsweek on Thursday that Porter’s recent viral moments reveal “anger control issues.”

    In contrast, the gubernatorial hopeful applauded Governor Gavin Newsom’s social media tactics, calling him “probably the best and most effective counterbalance to [President Donald] Trump.”

    Newsweek has reached out to Porter’s and Newsom’s press team for comment via email on Friday evening.

    Why It Matters

    Porter, a three-term Democrat who left office in January and is considered a front-runner in California’s governor’s race, has been in the political spotlight this week after two videos circulated online, one showing her berating a staffer for being in her video frame and another capturing her cutting short a tense interview with CBS News California Investigates correspondent Julie Watts.

    California is America’s most populous state and, by itself, the world’s fourth-largest economy, making the governorship a high-profile job. Newsom, now term-limited, has climbed into the national spotlight with public clashes with the Trump administration, prompting frequent speculation about his presidential ambitions.

    What To Know

    Agarwal, 40, who described himself as a “pro-capitalism” Democrat at a Thursday night event in Manhattan, sat down with Newsweek to discuss the state’s leadership and what’s going on in the Democratic race.

    Outlining his platform’s top three policies as housing, making “crime illegal again,” and bolstering California’s energy sector, Agarwal then turned to one of the top Democratic contenders, Porter, who he called a “smart lady,” but has been in the news over her interactions with staff and media.

    In response to the viral clips of Porter, Agarwal said, “[Californians] are feeling betrayed a little bit, I think they’re feeling frustrated,” by her temperament displayed in the videos. “I think people are allowed to have a bad day, everyone has a bad day. It’s hard to be on camera all the time,” he noted. “But that’s not what that was, that was clear evidence of someone that has anger control issues.”

    He added that her actions in the videos relay to him that “she is not able to deal with someone challenging her. If you can’t deal with someone challenging you, how are you going to run the fourth largest economy in the world?”

    “I think it’s a temperament issue, I like fiery people, I like passionate people…but you still treat people as human beings,” Agarwal said, adding that “if you can’t control these little, tiny microcosm situations, how are you going to deal with running the state of California?”

    Porter said in a statement about the video of her berating a staffer, “It’s no secret I hold myself and my staff to a high standard, and that was especially true as a member of Congress. I have sought to be more intentional in showing gratitude to my staff for their important work.”

    The fallout of the situation extends beyond public perception of Porter, Agarwal said, noting that she’s going “to lose the best people,” because the “best staffers, advisers, pollsters, campaign strategists are not going to work for Katie Porter anymore, and that’s where she’s going to lose.”

    An Emerson College poll of 1,000 Californian voters conducted between August 4 and 5 found Porter leading with 18 percent, followed by Republican political commentator Steve Hilton at 12 percent, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 7 percent, and former Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at 5 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Agarwal had not yet announced his run when the poll was conducted.

    Turning to the current governor, Agarwal said the state’s top Democrat is “probably the best and most effective counterbalance to Trump, and I got to give him credit for that” highlighting Newsom’s “all caps tweets,” which are a riff off the president’s. Over the summer, the governor’s social media team changed the style and tone of their posts to mimic Trump’s including a stream of all-caps threats and pop culture parodies, aimed at mocking Trump in a snarky tone while countering Republican initiatives in substance.

    “I don’t see any other Democrats stepping up and fighting Trump as aggressively as Newsom is,” he told Newsweek. “With that said, I don’t think the Democratic Party’s platform should be let’s just fight Trump, which is all it is these days—it’s like how can we be against Trump as opposed to being for something? So, I would like us to be for things as opposed to just being anti-Trump.”

    What People Are Saying

    Political strategist Mike Madrid, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political action committee, told Newsweek for another story about Porter on Friday: “You can get away with that in a big media market like Orange County, but once you’re running for governor, that video plays very differently…[however] The field is still very wide open. It’s a long time until June, and a lot of people are going to have second thoughts.”

    Porter’s campaign spokesperson Peter Opitz said in a statement, as reported by Politico: “Californians are hungry for a governor who they trust can fight for them against Trump. They know from her work taking on powerful interests in Washington that Katie is never going to be shy about calling out bullshit, and that is why every poll shows Katie firmly in the lead.”

    Governor Newsom’s press office wrote in an October 10 X post: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, MANY SAY AMERICA’S MOST LOVED, MOST HANDSOME, AND POSSIBLY MOST IMPORTANT GOVERNOR!! MY BIRTHDAY WISH LIST (THE BEST LIST): NO TROOPS IN OUR BEAUTIFUL CITIES! NO TRUMP ELECTION RIGGING — NONE! BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT, FAIR MAPS FOR EVERYONE! RESPECT FOR OUR SACRED CONSTITUTION! AND MOST IMPORTANT AND A VERY HUMBLE ASK, A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE (PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD ARE BEGGING ME TO ACCEPT IT!) THANK YOU TO THE AMAZING, TALENTED, HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA. I LOVE YOU!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN”

    Former California State Controller Betty Yee, who is running for governor, said in an October 8 X post: “Katie Porter is a weak, self-destructive candidate unfit to lead California. The stakes are simply too high for her to stay in this race. It’s time for her to drop out of this race.”

    Political analyst Nate Silver said in an X post about Porter’s interview: “TV is a really unnatural medium especially in a studio setting like this. Of course you’re supposed to stay more on script if you’re running for office but it’s a very human reaction.”

    Political commentator Megyn Kelly said in an October 7 X post: “Are there other terrible interviews with Katie Porter? This is the most entertaining, unifying thing since tiger king!”

    What Happens Next?

    The gubernatorial race is still far away. The primaries are scheduled for June 2026, while the gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026.

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  • Katie Porter Should Have Something to Say to Trump Voters

    Photo: YouTube/@CBSSacramento

    There are two big things going on in California politics right now. We are in the opening phase of what could be the most unpredictable gubernatorial election in ages, with a huge and changing field of candidates eager to succeed term-limited Gavin Newsom. Meanwhile, the governor is spearheading a loud and expensive ballot-initiative campaign to shift the state’s congressional map crucially toward Democrats, in an explicit response to Donald Trump’s efforts to grab midterm wins for Republicans via redistricting measures in states his party controls (most notably Texas).

    Unsurprisingly, when CBS News reporter Julie Watts decided to interview gubernatorial candidates, she wanted very clear answers on how they felt about the ballot fight. And for the Democratic candidates, she also wanted to know if the intense anti-Trump messaging of the “Yes on 50” campaign would make it hard for them to appeal to Trump voters in 2026. It’s not a particularly rich line of inquiry, but it’s entirely legitimate.

    So it got a lot of attention when Watts’s interview with former Democratic representative Katie Porter, who is leading the field in most of the early gubernatorial polling, went way off the rails:

    Porter objected to a question that included the premise that she might need Trump voters to win the governorship. After wrinkling her brow, Porter asked, “How would I need them to win, ma’am?” Watts responded, “You think everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you?” Porter affirmed, “In a general election, yes … If it’s me against a Republican, I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump.”

    Watts then asked, “What if it is you against another Democrat?” And Porter replied, “I do not intend that to be the case.”

    At this point, non-Californians may be confused. In a 2010 ballot initiative, Golden State voters abolished party primaries and inaugurated a so-called top-two system in which all candidates compete in an open primary, with the top two candidates — regardless of party — advancing to the general election. So it’s entirely possible that two Democrats (or in an alternative universe, two Republicans) could compete for the ultimate prize. It happened in the U.S. Senate elections of 2016 (in which Kamala Harris defeated Democratic representative Loretta Sanchez) and 2018 (when Dianne Feinstein defeated Democratic state-senate leader Kevin DeLeon). How Republican voters would deal with an all-Democratic general-election choice was of great interest in both races, though many Republicans chose to give the race a pass. In the most recent competitive statewide race, the Senate contest of 2024, Democrat Adam Schiff spent a lot of money attacking Republican Steve Garvey during the primary campaign. The goal was to herd angry Republicans into his column and make him Schiff’s general-election opponent, in the accurate expectation that Schiff would win that contest handily. And who was the third-place Democrat who was pushed out of the general election by the Schiff-Garvey squeeze play? Katie Porter. So she’s very familiar with this sort of scenario.

    With that as background, maybe that’s why Porter bristled when Watts asked, “How do you intend this (a Democrat-on-Democrat general election) not to be the case? Are you going to ask them not to run?” After a brief digression in which Porter touted her ability to win in a “purple” House district earlier in her career, she challenged Watts to restate her question, which she did, and then soon thereafter Porter announced, “I’m not doing this anymore; I’m going to call it.”

    To put it mildly, this did not go over well. Multiple Democratic rivals soon scolded Porter for losing her cool, as The Hill noted:

    Former California State Controller Betty Yee (D), who is also running for governor, said in a post on X that it is clear Porter does not have the temperament to be governor. 

    “As a candidate, I welcome the hard questions — the next governor must be accessible and transparent,” Yee wrote on X. “No place for temper tantrums. No place for dodging the public’s right to know.”

    There were plenty of safe answers Porter could have given to Watts’s hypothetical about needing Trump voters in a Democrat-on-Democrat general election. She could have pointed out that a goodly number of 2024 Trump voters were experiencing buyer’s remorse. She could have suggested that some Trump voters might appreciate the need for a counterbalance in Congress to the president’s power. And, of course, she could have said Republican voters choosing between two Democrats might appreciate her personal qualities, her drive and independence, and her determination to represent everyone. The reality is that nobody really knows what the dynamics will be surrounding a general election that’s 13 months away, so she could have answered with the equivalent of “I’ll cross that bridge when I reach it” and maybe even laughed.

    The bottom line is that this was a predictable question Porter should have been able to answer or deflect, instead of giving the impression she’s writing off 40 percent of her state’s electorate and rejecting media questions that don’t simply invite her to repeat her message.


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    Ed Kilgore

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  • Katie Porter gains backing of powerful Democratic women’s group in 2026 governor’s race

    Former Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine received the endorsement of a prominent Democratic women’s group on Monday that backs candidates who support abortion rights. The organization could provide significant funding and grass-roots support to boost Porter’s 2026 gubernatorial campaign.

    “Katie Porter has spent her career holding the powerful accountable, fighting to lower costs and taking on Wall Street and Trump administration officials to deliver results for California’s working families,” said Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List. “At a time when President Trump and his allies are attacking Californians’ health care and making their lives more expensive, Katie is the proven leader California needs.”

    The organization’s name stands for Early Money Is Like Yeast, a reference to the importance of early fundraising for female candidates. It was founded four decades ago to promote Democratic women who support legal abortion. The group has raised nearly $950 million to help elect such candidates across the country, including backing Porter’s successful congressional campaign to flip a GOP district in Orange County.

    “There’s nothing that Donald Trump hates more than facing down a strong, powerful woman,” Porter said. “For decades, EMILY’s List has backed winner after winner, helping elect pro-choice Democratic women to public office. They were instrumental in helping me flip a Republican stronghold blue in 2018, and together I’m confident we will make history again.”

    It’s unclear, however, how much the organization will spend on Porter’s bid to be California’s first female governor. There are multiple critical congressional races next year that will determine control of the House that the group will likely throw its weight behind.

    The 2026 gubernatorial race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom is wide open after former Vice President Kamala Harris decided not to run and as Sen. Alex Padilla and businessman Rick Caruso mull whether to make a run.

    At the moment, Porter, a UC Irvine law professor who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate last year, has a small edge in the polls among the multitude of Democrats running for the seat. The primary is in June.

    EMILY’s List, which often avoids making a nod when there are multiple female candidates in a race, made its decision after former state Senate leader Toni Atkins announced in late September that she was dropping out of the race. Former state Controller Betty Yee remains a gubernatorial candidate.

    Seema Mehta

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  • Adam Schiff’s Victory Speech Hijacked By Anti-Gaza War Protesters; Republican Steve Garvey Locks In Second Place For CA Senate Run-Off In November – Update

    Adam Schiff’s Victory Speech Hijacked By Anti-Gaza War Protesters; Republican Steve Garvey Locks In Second Place For CA Senate Run-Off In November – Update

    (Updated with more results & Super Tuesday details) The Congressman from Hollywood is one big step closer to becoming the Golden State’s junior Senator, but saw up-close this Super Tuesday some of the visceral challenges Democrats face from their own base.

    In the double header that is California’s primary this Super Tuesday, Adam Schiff secured the top spot with just under 40% of the vote in. NBC News and the Associated Press called it for Schiff just over 30 minutes after the polls closed in the nation’s most populous state.

    Not that night was all balloon drops and victory dances for the veteran Congressman.

    Dozens of protesters chanting “ceasefire now” over the worsening situation in Gaza made it near impossible for Schiff to get though his speech to supporters at Avalon on LA’s Vine Street.

    As security attempted to remove the protesters, Schiff at first tried to make their presence a sign of democracy’s strength, but their sheer numbers overwhelmed the Congressman and his Hollywood victory party. Likely forcing a shorter speech than the gregarious politician intended, the incursion by the protesters exemplifies the backlash that Democrats — from President Joe Biden to down ticket races — face as an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains elusive.

    Protesters disrupt Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) as he speaks during his primary election night partty at The Avalon in LA // Credit: Getty

    Representing Burbank for over 20 years, Schiff is running for the seat that the late Dianne Feinstein held since 1992 until her death last September. With his district encompassing Disney, Warner Bros. and more, cable news regular Schiff has garnered support in the race from high profile fans such as Nancy Pelosi, Jon Hamm, ex-Senator Barbara Boxer and Billy Crystal.

    For a while it looked like the battle zone would shift to second place race. Would Schiff face fellow Democrat Kate Porter or Republican Steve Garvey in November? That dust up didn’t last very long if the eventual results bear out the trajectory we’re seeing so far.

    “Welcome to the California comeback,” Garvey told his supporters as his lead over Porter proved insurmountable. “We haven’t come this far to only go this far,” he added in a speech that sounded very Ronald Reagan. Hell, Garvey even mentioned a 1984 Dodgers game in his remarks.

    In a low turn-out day, Schiff snagged 37% of the vote, while political novice Garvey took 29% to three-term Orange County Congresswoman Porter’s 15%. Beloved Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who many thought Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint to serve out the remainder of Feinstein’s term, is in a far fourth with 7% of the votes tallied.

    Under the jungle primary rules in California, where all candidates for elected office run in the same primary no matter their political party and the top two vote-winners move forward, Schiff has strategically worked almost harder for Garvey than the ex-Dodger player did for himself.

    On a not-so Super Tuesday that saw Joe Biden and Donald Trump hoover up delegates in their respective long marches towards the GOP and Democrats conventions this summer, Garvey coming in second place allows Schiff to sidestep the bloody Blue State civil war that would surely emerge if Porter was his November rival.

    In a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to state office in decades, another benefit for longtime Congressman Schiff in a race against Garvey is the cost savings.

    A big fundraiser, the former lead House Manager in the first Senate impeachment trial of the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host will save millions not just from his own coffers but from the accounts of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. With California as close to a sure thing as you can get in American politics, the DSCC can allocate funds to closer races like Montana incumbent Jon Tester.

    Aside from the Senate race, the bid for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and Gov. Newsom’s mental heath and homelessness-focused Proposition 1 are also possible game changers in the Golden State.

    George Gascón, Los Angeles City Hall

    Getty Images

    Having beaten back two recall efforts since his 2020 victory, current L.A. DA George Gascón is up against 11 challengers this election, five of whom are from his own office. The most recent results have Gascón with 23% to 18% for Nathan Hoffman. The largest fundraiser in the DA race, former federal prosecutor Hoffman was unsuccessful in his 2022 bid to be the Republican nominee for California Attorney General. With two very different views of reform, the role of the DA, plus an inability to even agree on whether crime is rising or declining in the nation’s largest county, Gascón and Hoffman will go at it again in November.

    There is a bit of déjà vu  to their race.

    Funded by big donations from Netflix founder Reed Hastings and other Hollywood luminaries, former San Francisco DA and ex-LAPD officer Gascón took down incumbent Jackie Lacey in a bitter and close 2020 face off.

    Backed by a bipartisan support in Sacramento and with a big push from Gov. Newsom, Proposition 1 is the only statewide measure on the ballot this year. A mix of two bills passed by the legislature, the Behavioral Health Services Program and Bond Measure, as it is formally known, would authorize the state to raise over $6 billion in bonds for housing for those living on the streets. Currently holding a slight lead in the incoming results, Prop 1 also aims to create facilities for those with mental health and substance use issues.

    Moving into the closing years of his tenure as Governor and facing another recall, Newsom put a lot of his political capitol on the line for Prop 1.

    Not that the Biden surrogate and potential one day White House candidate could resist putting at least one foot on the national stage tonight

    While the run-off races look set earlier than usual, remember that California votes often to take weeks to be finalized.

    Every resident of the state was sent a mail-in ballot. For those who choose to make their voice known that way, the mail-in ballot had to be postmarked by today to be valid. With that, and as long as the ballot is in by March 12, it will be counted.

    California joined Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont Arkansas, Virginia, Massachusetts and Texas voting in the Republican presidential primary today. Alaska and American Samoa joined those 15 states in holding their Democratic primary races this Super Tuesday.

    Dominic Patten

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  • California Senate Polls: Schiff Helps Garvey Edge Out Fellow Democrats

    California Senate Polls: Schiff Helps Garvey Edge Out Fellow Democrats

    Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images

    In addition to the 15 states holding presidential contests on Super Tuesday, there are also a handful of down-ballot primaries on March 5. The contest that’s drawn the most national interest is the U.S. Senate primary in California, a complex and expensive battle to identify general-election candidates for the seat previously held by the late Dianne Feinstein.

    California utilizes a so-called top-two primary system in which candidates (below the presidential level) compete for spots on the November ballot without regard to party affiliation. So there could be two Democrats, two Republicans, or one of each in the general election. This system has frequently led to candidates trying to “box out” their most dangerous opponents by keeping them from making the top two in the primary vote.

    This sort of gamesmanship has been pivotal in the 2024 Senate race. Given the Democratic Party’s dominant position in California (no Republican has won a statewide race since 2006), the general election will almost certainly be won by a Democrat. But it makes all the difference in the world whether there are one or two Democrats competing in November.

    The longtime front-runner in the race, Los Angeles–area Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, very much wants his November opponent to be Republican Steve Garvey, a baseball star in Los Angeles and San Diego, whom he would trounce without much question. So he has been devoting a sizable portion of his massive campaign treasury (he’s raised about $50 million so far) to attacks on Garvey designed to consolidate GOP voters behind the former ballplayer, as opposed to either of the other two significant Republicans in the contest. Schiff is hoping that Garvey can box out his Democratic colleague Katie Porter, the Elizabeth Warren protégé from Orange County who has stronger progressive credentials and is herself a prodigious fundraiser (pulling in an estimated $24 million for the Senate race). An X factor in the race is Schiff and Porter’s distinguished Bay Area colleague Barbara Lee, whose age (she will turn 78 in July) and poor fundraising have offset her sterling progressive reputation.

    In addition to Schiff’s promotion of Garvey, Porter has also had to contend with $10 million in attack ads from a group backed by cryptocurrency executives angry at her criticisms of the industry. A wrinkle in the campaign has been an upsurge of progressive fury at Schiff for his staunch backing of Israel in its war against Hamas; Lee was an early supporter of a permanent cease-fire and Porter has supported a more conditional cease-fire effort.

    The polls show that Schiff’s strategic effort to boost Garvey at Porter’s expense is working. In the RealClearPolitics polling averages for this race, Schiff is at 26.5 percent, Garvey is at 20.5 percent, Porter is at 18.3 percent, and Lee is at 9 percent. Garvey has been steadily trending upwards in the polls as Schiff’s campaign love-bombed him; in the latest UC Berkeley–Los Angeles Times survey, the Republican actually led the field with 27 percent, two points ahead of his frenemy Schiff and eight points ahead of Porter.

    A big imponderable about this primary is turnout. Whatever its merits, the top-two system has done nothing to improve the Golden State’s reputation for poor turnout in primaries, nor have such voter-friendly enhancements as automatic voter registration (in most counties, at least) and the dispatch of mail ballots to all registered voters without the need for an excuse or an application (voters also have in-person options if they don’t want to vote by mail). This year’s turnout may also be depressed by two totally uncompetitive presidential contests and an unusually early date (California primaries are usually held in June but were moved up to coincide with the presidential primaries). Politico looked at the pace of ballots returned early and predicted very low turnout:

    California is lagging behind the 2022 midterm return rate, when the state had more ballots returned by this point in the race. Ultimately, 2022 saw a 33 percent turnout.

    There’s dozens of factors that could affect the state’s final turnout number, but [turnout monitor Paul] Mitchell is cautiously speculating that only 29 percent of California’s registered voters will turn in their ballots, falling below the current record low of 31 percent in 2012.

    Low turnouts in California have traditionally been good for Republicans, which is another factor that might help Garvey, whose own campaign and debate appearances have been decidedly unimpressive. Many Democrats have mixed feelings about the contest. On the one hand, a Schiff-Garvey general election might free up many millions of dollars that would otherwise go to a Senate race between two Democrats. More available donor money would benefit candidates in races more critical to the Democratic Party’s power (notably six competitive U.S. House races, five of them for seats now controlled by Republicans). On the other hand, strategic issues aside, Schiff is not an inspiring choice for many California progressives, as my colleague Rebecca Traister explained in her recent overview of the race:

    Porter does not always play well with others in her own party — including Nancy Pelosi, the fearsome éminence grise of both California politics and the U.S. House — and has been accused by multiple former employees of being a tough, perhaps even abusive, boss. Lee is a beloved hero of the left who has not participated in a competitive election in years and at 77 is a dicey choice to fill a seat recently vacated by a woman in possession of the philosopher’s stone. And Schiff? Schiff is fine if you want a warrior on behalf of the meager gruel of status quo politics, a candidate handpicked by the previous generation of Democratic leadership to further its dubious legacy.

    If the race for the two spots in the general election is very close, it could be a while before we know the outcome: California is a state that counts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day so long as they are received at local election offices within seven days. Another strange wrinkle is that voters will be selecting a top two not just for the full Senate term that begins in 2025, but — separately — for the last two months of Feinstein’s term (being filled until November by appointed place-holder Laphonza Butler, who chose not to pursue an elected term). It’s possible that confused voters will produce different top twos for the full and truncated terms. That would be an unlikely but fitting end to this odd Senate race full of misdirection and borderline deceit.


    See All



    Ed Kilgore

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  • Get the Facts: Claims in attack ad against California Senate candidate Katie Porter

    Get the Facts: Claims in attack ad against California Senate candidate Katie Porter


    Special Projects Producer

    Get the Facts: Claims in attack ad against California Senate candidate Katie Porter

    PRIMARY, THE RACE FOR CALIFORNIA SENATOR IS GETTING MORE AND MORE HEATED. THE LATEST AD GOES AFTER KATIE PORTER. BUT HOW ACCURATE IS IT? KCRA THREE CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT ASHLEY ZAVALA JOINS US TO GET THE FACTS. KATIE PORTER PLAYS US FOR FOOLS. THE LATEST AD IN THE RACE FOR CALIFORNIA SENATE CLAIMS TO SHINE LIGHT ON KATIE PORTER’S CLAIMS THAT SHE TAKES NO MONEY FROM MAJOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES. NO, INSTEAD, KATIE PORTER TAKES HER CAMPAIGN CASH DIRECTLY FROM BIG PHARMA. BIG OIL AND THE BIG BANK EXECUTIVES. SO LET’S LOOK AT THOSE CLAIMS ONE AT A TIME. KATIE PORTER TAKES HER CAMPAIGN CASH DIRECTLY FROM BIG PHARMA, THE FIRST THAT AN EXECUTIVE FROM SPECTRUM PHARMA PAID $500. LOOKING AT THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION’S CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA. THAT IS TRUE, BUT FOR THE 2018 ELECTION CYCLE FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THAT EXECUTIVE IS NO LONGER WITH SPECTRUM FROM BIG OIL. THIS CLAIM IS TRUE IN THE SAME WAY AN EXECUTIVE OF WOOD OIL DID DONATE $2,000, BUT AGAIN THEN IN THE 2018 ELECTION CYCLE AND THE BIG BANK EXECUTIVES AGAIN, TRUE, BUT THAT $2,900 DONATION IS FROM THE 2021 ELECTION CYCLE FROM THE NOW FORMER PRESIDENT OF THAT COMPANY. NONE OF THOSE DONATIONS WERE TO PORTER’S SENATE CAMPAIGN. MORE THAN $100,000. THAT’S NOT SHAKING UP THE SENATE. THOSE DONATIONS IN TOTAL ADD UP TO $100,000. BUT NONE ARE AGAIN FOR THE SENATE CAMPAIGN. KERN THE HIGHEST DONATION WE COULD FIND FOR ALL HER ELECTION YEARS WAS FOR $83,000. SO? SO WHO PAID FOR THIS AD FAIR? SHAKE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THIS AD FAIR SHAKE IS A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE WITH A WEBSITE SAYING THEY ARE COMMITTED TO, QUOTE, THE NEXT GENERATION OF INTERNET AND HELPING BLOCKCHAIN DEVELOPERS WITH A, QUOTE, CLEARER REGULATORY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND LOOKING AT THEIR OWN CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA. THEIR NUMBERS ARE A LOT HIGHER THAN PORTER’S, AS DONATIONS FROM BLOCKCHAIN COMPANIES FOR 20 15.5 AND $14 MILLION, EVEN $50,000 EACH FROM FACEBOOK CO-FOUNDERS THE WINKLEVOSS TWINS. SHE CLAIMS NOT TO TAKE CORPORATE PAC MONEY. SO HOW TRUE IS THE AD? THE CLAIMS ARE CORRECT THAT PORTER DID TAKE MONEY FROM THOSE PARTICULAR EXECUTIVES, BUT THE MONEY WAS NOT FOR THIS SENATE CAMPAIGN. IN FACT, NONE OF THOSE PEOPLE LISTED WERE IN PORTER’S 2023 2024 CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS. BACK TO YOU. THIS AD COMES AT A TIME WHEN THE POLLS SHOW ADAM SCHIFF AND KATIE PORTER IN A CLOSE RACE, WHILE REPUBLICAN STEVE GARVEY HAS BEEN MAKING BIG STRIDES, ACCORDING TO A RECENT PPIC POLL, THE TOP TWO VO

    Get the Facts: Claims in attack ad against California Senate candidate Katie Porter


    Special Projects Producer

    With the run-up to the March 5 primary, the race for California senate is getting more and more heated.The latest ad in the race for California senate claims to shed light on Rep. Katie Porter’s claims she takes no money from political action committees. The ad alleges Porter takes her campaign cash directly from big pharma, big oil, and big bank executives.Porter indeed took money from particular executives. But the money was not for this Senate campaign. None of the people listed were in Porter’s 2023-24 campaign finance reports.The group Fairshake, which is behind the ad, is a political action committee with a website saying they are committed to “the next generation of internet” and helping blockchain developers with “a clearer regulatory and legal framework.”Looking at their own campaign finance data, their numbers are a lot higher than Porter’s.See more in the full video above.| MORE | Here is your 2024 California voter guide for races, measures

    With the run-up to the March 5 primary, the race for California senate is getting more and more heated.

    The latest ad in the race for California senate claims to shed light on Rep. Katie Porter’s claims she takes no money from political action committees. The ad alleges Porter takes her campaign cash directly from big pharma, big oil, and big bank executives.

    Porter indeed took money from particular executives. But the money was not for this Senate campaign. None of the people listed were in Porter’s 2023-24 campaign finance reports.

    The group Fairshake, which is behind the ad, is a political action committee with a website saying they are committed to “the next generation of internet” and helping blockchain developers with “a clearer regulatory and legal framework.”

    Looking at their own campaign finance data, their numbers are a lot higher than Porter’s.

    See more in the full video above.

    | MORE | Here is your 2024 California voter guide for races, measures

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  • Adam Schiff And Steve Garvey Clash Over Donald Trump In Latest U.S. Senate Debate; Moderators Seek Specifics On Crime, Housing And The Border

    Adam Schiff And Steve Garvey Clash Over Donald Trump In Latest U.S. Senate Debate; Moderators Seek Specifics On Crime, Housing And The Border


    The four leading candidates for California‘s open U.S. Senate seat met again this evening, this time in a one-hour San Francisco debate that produced fewer clashes than their first gathering in January.

    Still, with less than a month before the state’s open primary, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) focused a number of his attacks on Steve Garvey, the sole Republican on the stage, particularly over the “issue” of Donald Trump.

    “Let me just say this also to Mr. Garvey: The greatest threat that we have to our democracy is Donald Trump,” Schiff said.

    Garvey voted for Trump in the last two presidential elections but said that, when it comes to supporting him this year, he “will make that decision when the time comes.” In response to Schiff, Garvey said that the “gravest threat to democracy is deconstruction of the Constitution. Packing the court. Doing away with the filibuster. These are things that deconstruct democracy.”

    Their exchange continued. Schiff replied, “Then Donald Trump packed the Supreme Court, which is why millions of Americans lost their right of reproductive freedom, why the Supreme Court is striking down air quality and water quality regulations.” As he started to talk about striking down voting rights, Garvey interjected.

    “You are fixated on one person and one person only,” Garvey said.

    Schiff, who has long been one of Trump’s leading foes, has been atop the polls in the race, leaving it to Garvey and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) to secure the other spot on the ballot in the general election. Further behind is Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).

    Porter has called Schiff “cynical” for spotlighting Garvey in his ads, on the premise that the former Dodger star would, as a Republican, be much easier to beat than she would be. In other words, by highlighting Garvey’s past backing of Trump, Schiff is also giving the Republican candidate the attention he needs to consolidate support among the state’s rightward voters.

    During the debate, Porter took another swipe at Schiff’s ads. In response to a question of upper age limits for elected officials, Porter said, “As Mr. Schiff well knows, it is true that we have gerrymandering and elections that are deeply blue districts in which there really aren’t competitive elections. In fact, he’s hoping that the Senate race turns into one with the ads that he is running right now,” she said.

    Assisted by a loud bell ring, moderators Frank Buckley of KTLA and Nikki Laurenzo of Inside California Politics kept candidates to their time limits and tried to pin them down on specific questions. When the candidates tried to answer in their talking points, they followed up with questions again.

    Sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not.

    Schiff was asked whether President Joe Biden was “wrong” to say last week that Israel’s retaliatory actions had been “over the top” in its response to the Hamas terrorist attack. After initially answering by expressing support for Israel’s right to defend itself and for the way that the president has handled the Israel-Hamas war, Schiff was asked again about Biden’s comment. He said, “I don’t know that I express it the way the president has. But I think he is right to try to bring about this negotiated deal, where we’ll have an extended pause, so we can get the hostages out and more aid in.”

    Meanwhile, Garvey spoke in generalities when pressed on what specific regulations he would eliminate as a way to try to solve the state’s housing crisis. Asked again, he said, “We see the cost of housing continue to rise for one simple reason. Let’s take young adults. Young adults cannot afford to have the single most important equity in their lives … So I go back constantly to the idea of opening the gates, cutting down inflation.”

    Other moments:

    At the last debate, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) clashed with Garvey and she called him out for chiding his Democratic rivals as out of touch on the issue of homelessness, when she herself had once been unsheltered. At tonight’s debate, Garvey told her, “I’m so sorry that you went through that.”

    For her part, Lee was asked what legislation she has seen into law that specifically addressed the homelessness crisis. She cited the expansion of a homelessness agency task force and other proposed legislation, including proposals to address the difficulty in obtaining renter security deposits.

    Lee also was asked about her call for a $50 per hour minimum wage and how it would impact small businesses. Noting that she owned and ran a business, she said, “I know what worker productivity means — that means that you have to make sure your employees are taken care of and have a living wage.”

    Garvey, who has called for an audit of money being spent to solve the homelessness crisis, was asked whether those who are unhoused should be allowed to live in RVs and tents while they wait for a permanent solution. “I don’t think so. I think it’s inhumane. There are two or three fires a week in downtown Los Angeles,” he said. “There are two or three deaths each week. Let’s get back to humanity. They need to be taken off the streets. They need to be cared for.”

    On the border, Garvey was the most critical of Biden, saying that he “opened the floodgates and created a crisis in the United States. He should be the one to step up and close the border.”

    Even though he has taken a hard line on the border issue, Garvey was non-committal when asked whether he would accept Trump’s endorsement, albeit he didn’t criticize the former president. “These are personal choices. I answer to God, my wife, family and to the people of California. And I hope you would respect that I have personal choices,” he said.

    Schiff said that “there’s no question that we have a crime problem in California, particularly with these smash and grab robberies,” while pointing out that when Garvey “was playing baseball,” he was working as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorneys office.

    Porter was asked about why, after five years in Congress, she waiting until last week to introduce a 10-point plan to solve the crisis. She noted her work as a consumer advocate, but was then pressed again for an answer. “I have worked on housing issues since the day I was elected and have talked a lot about this, about the challenges that my own family faces,” she said.

    At a number of points, Porter attacked “Washington insiders” who ensured that billionaires got tax breaks. “The problem is that the workers who are creating the value who are hard at work are not receiving enough to live on while Washington insiders continue to give huge tax breaks to the wealthy.”

    Schiff took a few swipes at Porter’s attacks on career politicians. He said, “You can’t walk down the halls of Congress without tripping over five people that are going to say they are going to shake up Washington. They don’t end up getting anything actually accomplished.”



    Ted Johnson

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  • Rep. Katie Porter Shuts Down Fox News Reporter’s Attack On Biden Without Breaking Stride

    Rep. Katie Porter Shuts Down Fox News Reporter’s Attack On Biden Without Breaking Stride

    Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) had a short, sharp response to a Fox News reporter who approached with a question about the unexpected root canal procedure that President Joe Biden underwent earlier this week.

    Hillary Vaughn noted to Porter how Biden “had to take off work” for the treatment, then appeared to push the right-wing talk point that Biden isn’t fit for office when she asked: “Do you think he has the stamina for a second term?”

    Porter, without breaking stride, replied: “Have you ever had a root canal?”

    The moment went viral on Twitter, garnering millions of views.

    Porter, who is running for a seat in the Senate next year, later shared a video of the exchange.

    She wished Biden a “speedy recovery.”

    Biden missed a scheduled appearance at a college athlete event at the White House on Monday and rescheduled a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for Tuesday.

    He was not anesthetized, so the power of the presidency did not temporarily transfer to Vice President Kamala Harris.

    Biden was back fully at work on Tuesday and even joked about his root canal with Stoltenberg. “I apologize for having to reschedule yesterday,” said the president. “I had a lot of fun yesterday afternoon. I had a little toothache problem they took care of.”

    The procedure to remove inflamed and/or infected pulp on the inside of the tooth may have been painful decades ago, the American Association of Endodontists acknowledges on its website, but modern techniques mean now “you won’t experience any more pain than if you went to have a cavity filled.”

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  • Katie Porter Uses Whiteboard To Explain To Dianne Feinstein Why This Her Office Now

    Katie Porter Uses Whiteboard To Explain To Dianne Feinstein Why This Her Office Now

    WASHINGTON—Circling the words “dead soon” for emphasis, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) reportedly used a whiteboard Wednesday to explain to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) why the public office held by Feinstein for 30 years belonged to Porter now. “So as you can see here, the average life expectancy for a woman in the United States is 79 years, and come 2024, you’ll be 91—if you’re lucky—and that’s just too old!” said Porter, who drew a stick figure that was hunched over and leaning on a cane, along with several arrows that appeared to indicate the figure was about to tumble into an open grave. “Me, I’ll only be 51. But you, well, pretty soon you’re going to be down there in the ground. So you can’t stay here. Are you still following me, Dianne? This office is mine.” At press time, sources confirmed Porter had been forced to wipe the board clean and start over by explaining that the Hart Senate Office Building was not Feinstein’s home and she did not live there.

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  • Progressive Rep. Katie Porter launches bid for Feinstein’s California Senate seat | CNN Politics

    Progressive Rep. Katie Porter launches bid for Feinstein’s California Senate seat | CNN Politics



    CNN
     — 

    California Rep. Katie Porter announced a 2024 Senate bid on Tuesday, launching her campaign for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat in what could be a bruising Democratic primary.

    The 89-year-old Feinstein, a member of the Senate since 1992, has not yet made public her own plans for 2024, and her office did not respond to a request for comment on Porter’s announcement. However, many Democrats believe she is likely to retire rather than seek a sixth full term.

    Porter, a former law professor who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser since first winning her Orange County-area House seat in 2018, survived a tough reelection bid in 2022, when the redistricting process placed her home in Irvine within a 47th District in which she had to newly introduce herself to about two-thirds of voters.

    Porter, who studied under future Sen. Elizabeth Warren at Harvard Law School, is best known nationally for her sharp questioning in House oversight committee hearings. She is also a leading progressive, serving as deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

    “California needs a warrior in the Senate – to stand up to special interests, fight the dangerous imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for rigging our democracy,” Porter said Tuesday in a tweet accompanied by a video announcing her candidacy.

    If Feinstein were to retire, it would likely set off a crowded scramble for the high-profile Senate seat in the country’s most populous state.

    Other potential contenders could include Rep. Adam Schiff, Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, a former longtime member of Congress.

    Schiff, who views the senator as a mentor, went to see Feinstein in December to tell her that he was thinking about running, in what a source familiar with the meeting said was intended to show her due respect.

    Feinstein has filed 2024 reelection paperwork with the FEC, but has faced criticism recently about her fitness for the job. She rejected those suggestions, telling CNN last year that she feels “absolutely” able to serve fully in her position, adding: “I think that’s pretty obvious.”

    This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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  • Fact check: Republican congressman falsely claims Democratic congresswoman said pedophilia isn’t a crime | CNN Politics

    Fact check: Republican congressman falsely claims Democratic congresswoman said pedophilia isn’t a crime | CNN Politics


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    On Thursday afternoon, Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas accused Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California of having said that “pedophilia isn’t a crime.”

    But Porter did not say that. Jackson, like some conservative Twitter personalities, was wrongly describing Porter’s remarks.

    Jackson has more than 500,000 followers on Twitter. Here’s what he tweeted: “Katie Porter just said that pedophilia isn’t a crime, she said it’s an ‘identity.’ THIS IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL! The sad thing is that this woman isn’t the only VILE person pushing for pedophilia normalization. This is what progressives believe!”

    Facts First: Jackson’s claim is false. Porter did not say that pedophilia isn’t a crime. Full video from a congressional hearing on Wednesday shows that Porter actually said that LGBTQ people are being falsely smeared on social media as being a “groomer” or “pedophile” merely because of their gender identity and sexual orientation. She did not defend pedophilia itself.

    In other words, Porter is being baselessly described as a supporter of pedophilia over comments in which she was denouncing how other people are being baselessly described as pedophiles.

    Jackson’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday afternoon.

    Porter made her remarks during a Wednesday hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee that was focused on violence and hate directed at lesbian, gay and transgender Americans. Porter was speaking to Kelley Robinson, president of an advocacy group called the Human Rights Campaign, about the group’s report on tweets the group said “mention the LGBTQ+ community alongside slurs such as ‘groomer’, ‘predator’ and ‘pedophile’.”

    Here is a transcript of the relevant portion of the exchange, which can be viewed at the 2:49:30 mark of this video.

    Porter: I wanted to start with Ms. Robinson, if I could. Your organization recently released a report analyzing the 500 most viewed, most influential tweets that identified LGBTQ people as so-called ‘groomers.’ The ‘groomer’ narrative is an age-old lie to position LGBTQ+ people as a threat to kids. And what it does is deny them access to public spaces, it stokes fear, and can even stoke violence. Ms. Robinson, according to its own hateful content policy, does Twitter allow posts calling LGBTQ+ people ‘groomers’?

    Robinson: No. I mean, Twitter, along with Facebook and many others, have community guidelines. It’s about holding users accountable to those guidelines, and acknowledging that when we use phrases and words like ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles’ to describe people – individuals in our communities that are mothers, that are fathers, that are teachers, that are doctors – it is dangerous. And it’s got one purpose. It is to dehumanize us. And make us feel like we are not a part of this American society. And it has real-life consequences. So we are calling on social media companies to uphold their community standards. And we’re also calling on any American that’s seeing this play out to hold ourselves and our community members accountable. We wouldn’t accept this in our families, we wouldn’t accept this in our schools. There’s no reason to accept it online.

    Porter: So – I mean, I think you’re absolutely right. And it’s not – this allegation of ‘groomer’ and of ‘pedophile,’ it is alleging that a person is criminal somehow, and engaged in criminal acts, merely because of their identity, their sexual orientation, their gender identity. So this is clearly prohibited under Twitter’s content. Yet you found hundreds of these posts on the platform.

    Nowhere did Porter say that pedophilia isn’t a crime. And the context of the exchange makes clear that she was criticizing false accusations of pedophilia that are based on a person’s identity, not saying that pedophilia is itself an identity.

    Inaccurate descriptions of Porter’s remarks spread on Twitter on Thursday with the help of videos that left out key parts of what she said.

    Jackson’s tweet used similar language as tweets earlier in the day from some other prominent accounts. For example, an account called Libs of TikTok, which has more than 1.6 million Twitter followers, wrote: “Rep Katie Porter (D) says pedophilia isn’t a crime – it’s an identity.”

    But the video that Libs of TikTok posted in support of this claim, which came from yet another conservative account, did not show the full exchange between Porter and Robinson. Specifically, it omitted Porter’s key initial comments – the ones in which she said she was talking about tweets “that identified LGBTQ people as so-called ‘groomers’” and in which she described the “groomer” accusation as “an age-old lie to position LGBTQ+ people as a threat to kids.” It also left out Robinson’s reply, in which Robinson also made clear that they were talking about groundless smears.

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  • Congress Wants To Know What The Biggest Game Companies Are Doing To ‘Combat Extremism’

    Congress Wants To Know What The Biggest Game Companies Are Doing To ‘Combat Extremism’

    Image for article titled Congress Wants To Know What The Biggest Game Companies Are Doing To 'Combat Extremism'

    Photo: Mark Wilson (Getty Images)

    A group of seven lawmakers are sending a letter to the world’s biggest video game companies tomorrow, asking each of them what steps they’re taking to combat “harassment and extremism” in online video games.

    As Axios reports, the seven Democratic representatives—including Lori Trahan (Massachusetts), Katie Porter (California) and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon—have all co-signed a letter, which is looking to “better understand the processes you have in place to handle player reports of harassment and extremism encounters in your online games, and ask for consideration of safety measures pertaining to anti-harassment and anti-extremism”.

    Unsurprisingly, the list includes companies like Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, Overwatch), Microsoft (Xbox), Sony (PlayStation), Roblox, Take-Two Interactive (Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K), Riot Games (League of Legends, Valorant), Epic (Fortnite) and Electronic Arts (Battlefield, FIFA & Madden).

    Those are all massive international companies, most of them with thousands of employees spread out all over the world, and responsible for some of the planet’s most popular and enduring online games. To want to grill them, when so many of them are based in the US—or at least most popular in the US—is a pretty obvious move!

    Hilariously, though, whoever put the list together of which companies to target has clearly just gone down a list of “most popular games”, not “biggest companies”, because among those titans of industry are Innersloth, the developers of Among Us.

    Among Us may be a huge hit, but Innersloth are also a tiny team. How tiny? This tiny:

    Among Us Wins Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2020

    Innsersloth’s webiste says the studio currently has 20 employees. I don’t know how much they’re going to be able to explain when their game has you playing as a cute little astronaut, doesn’t have voice chat and only lets players communicate via a menu of pre-written lines.

    But then nobody has to legally reply to the letter at all, it’s just a letter, so maybe they can just reply “sorry, think this is meant for Xbox!” and get on with their day.

    Luke Plunkett

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