‘I’m Surprised’: Ex-Obama Aide Grills Katie Porter Whether She Would Run Against Harris For California Governor

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett questioned former Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter during a Friday podcast about whether she would continue running if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the 2026 California gubernatorial race.

Porter, who lost the state’s 2024 Senate race, announced her candidacy for governor in a Tuesday X video. Lovett, on “Pod Save America,” noted Harris is reportedly weighing running for the governorship and that one of Porter’s advisers told CNN she would not compete against the former vice president, asking if that was accurate.

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“What I’ve said and what I’m going to say again today is that I think if Kamala comes into this race, especially if she comes in tomorrow, she comes in now, it’s going to have a near field-clearing effect,” Porter said.

Lovett interrupted to emphasize that Porter used the word “near.” Porter acknowledged that certain candidates have asserted they will remain in the race regardless of what Harris decides to do.

“I think it’s going to shake up the field. I said it’s going to have like a sort of a seismic effect. That said, we got to start this process now. Kamala’s going to make her decision in her own time,” she continued. “The vice president is owed that. That’s her decision to make, and I’ve worked with her. I know that she’s a careful decision-maker. She’s a thinker. And so she’s going to make her decision. But in the meantime, it is full speed ahead. Voters—I’m not waiting around, and I don’t think voters are waiting around.”

“As someone who admires and respects you as a leader and a political figure,” Lovett responded. “I’m surprised you’re not saying, ‘I don’t care what Kamala Harris does. I will be the best governor…’ That’s what’s confusing to me. Like, isn’t the person that’s supposed to lead this big, fractious state the person who says, ‘Kamala can get in, who I don’t give a fuck I’m going to — if she gets in, I’ll beat her’”?

Porter asserted she’s “not waiting for Kamala Harris” and that she will be “California’s next governor.”

“But it would also be, I think, disrespectful to somebody who went toe-to-toe, month after month after month, in a grueling race against Donald Trump and — and I saw this firsthand personally — serve California very, very ably as our attorney general, not to acknowledge that this is somebody who would be an incredibly strong candidate,” she continued. “And there are practical realities that anyone faces.”

Lovett asked Porter if she believed she would be a superior governor to Harris.

“Well, look, if I didn’t think I would be the best governor that California could have, I wouldn’t be in this race,” she answered.

Porter’s campaign priorities consist of defending California’s clean energy policies and health care from Trump, according to her website. She has previously touted her backing of abortion access and LGBT causes.

Porter served in Congress from 2019 to 2025 and lost the Democratic primary to Sen. Adam Schiff in California’s 2024 Senate race. Porter received about 15% of the vote in the election and claimed that the primary was rigged by billionaires.

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