Former Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter announced Tuesday that she is stepping into the 2026 California gubernatorial race.
Porter, who lost her 2024 Senate race, announced her candidacy in a video posted on X. Her campaign priorities include defending California’s clean energy policies and “defending [Californians’] health care” from President Donald Trump, according to her website, though she has previously touted her support for abortion access and LGBT causes.
“In Congress, I held the Trump Administration’s feet to the fire when they hurt Americans,” Porter said in the announcement video. “As Governor, I won’t ever back down when Trump hurts Californians — whether he’s holding up disaster relief, attacking our rights or our communities, or screwing over working families to benefit himself and his cronies.”
Porter served in Congress from 2019 to 2025, and previously ran in California’s 2024 Senate race, but was defeated after Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff won the primary election in March 2024. Porter gained roughly 15% of the vote in the election. After her unsuccessful California Senate bid, Porter claimed that the primary was rigged by billionaires.
Moreover, Porter also faced criticism after anonymous complaints against her surfaced from staffers on Capitol Hill in December 2022, including one which claimed she was rage-prone, and another that accused her of making racist comments, Politico reported. During an episode of ABC’s “The View” in April 2023, Porter claimed that “so-called bad bosses” are more commonly women and “people of color” when responding to accusations that she oversaw a toxic work environment.
The former congresswoman has promoted various left-leaning policies over the past several years. Porter, in 2023, claimed that Congress “can and should police the Supreme Court.” She also promoted abortion access in a July 2022 post on Instagram, writing that “abortion isn’t taboo; it’s essential health care.” Moreover, Porter previously claimed that it would be wrong for former President Joe Biden to completely shut down the southern border.
“Policies that completely shut the border, that eliminate any ability for anyone to seek humanitarian parole or asylum, they end up keeping and trapping the most vulnerable migrants,” she said, according to CalMatters.
Illegal immigration was a major issue heading into the 2024 presidential election, with a slim majority of Americans supporting mass deportation efforts that have since been undertaken by Trump.
Following the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by an illegal migrant, Porter told CNN host Erin Burnett that though the incident was a “horrible tragedy” she does not believe that “any one instance shouldn’t shape our overall immigration policy.”
Current Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is term-limited and thus cannot run for reelection in 2026, making the race to succeed him even more competitive. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is reportedly considering either attempting a second run for presidency in the 2028 race, or making a bid to replace Newsom as California’s governor in 2026.
There have been numerous reports that Newsom is a likely candidate for the Democratic ticket in the 2028 presidential race. During Newsom’s time in office, seven recall petitions have been launched against him.
The 2026 California Gubernatorial Election is set to take place on Nov. 3, 2026.
Porter’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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