Democratic former Rep. Katie Porter is running for governor of California, injecting another well-known name into the race to succeed Gavin Newsom.
“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 her announcement video. “That’s why I am running for governor.”
Porter is well known after an unsuccessful Senate run last year, and she joins a field that includes a number of other Democrats: Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee, former state legislative leader Tony Atkins, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and businessman Stephen Cloobeck. (Newsom is term-limited.)
But a bigger name, former Vice President Kamala Harris, is looming over all of them, and Porter's plans could change if Harris decides to jump into the race.
A Porter adviser told NBC News that if Harris decides to run, Porter would back her. But while Harris weighs her options, Porter is launching her own campaign for governor.
Porter flipped a Republican-held district in Southern California in 2018 and held the seat for three terms before her Senate campaign last year. She finished third with 15% of the vote in the state’s top-two primary, behind the winner, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey.
Porter, a staunch progressive and former student of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., rose to prominence as a member of Congress for her sharp questioning of Trump administration officials at hearings, where she often broke out a whiteboard to make her point.
“I first ran for office to hold Trump accountable. I feel that same call to serve now to stop him from hurting Californians," Porter said in her announcement video, in which she also stood next to a whiteboard in a nod to her current role as a law professor.
Porter had acknowledged that Harris’ entry into the race could cause other candidates 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 told The Orange County Register late last year.
Harris, also a former California senator and state attorney general, will decide whether to run for governor by the end of the summer, according to a source familiar with her planning. Harris is also weighing a possible presidential run in 2028, and the source said she is “keeping all options open.”
As Porter's campaign launched Tuesday, it touted an internal poll memo showing her popularity among likely Democratic and independent voters, with Porter ahead of the other Democrats and better known than the other contenders. Her high name recognition comes after she spent a whopping $31 million on the Senate primary last year.
The survey tested the Democratic candidates along with potential contender Xavier Becerra, the former health and human services secretary and congressman, but it did not include Harris.
Candidates from all parties compete on the same ballot in California's primary, which is set for June 2, 2026. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Democrats would be favored to hold on to the governorship in the deep blue state. Harris carried California by 20 points in November, winning more than 58% of the vote.
