Katie Porter Faces Many Hurdles in a Run For Governor

It’s been a day since former Congresswoman Katie Porter announced that she will be running for Governor. And the reaction to her running has been…all over the map. She is a Democrat from Orange County with a history of making people on the right and left upset, so everyone knew going in that she wouldn’t have everyone on her side or completely against her. But the response hasn’t been exactly as enthusiastic as, say, a possible run by former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Some responses have been pretty negative calling her a failed lawmaker, a lawmaker who sought to increase prices, and not being able to help solve California’s problems.

“Katie Porter is a failed progressive Democrat with a history of supporting policies that increased inflation, grocery, gas and energy prices,” said Riverside County Sheriff and fellow 2026 Gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco (R) in a Tuesday statement. “She is cut from the same cloth as the failed career politicians who created California’s cost-of-living crisis. We cannot expect the same people who created this mess to get us out of it. Californians deserve so much better.”

Others were positive, as she has was called smart, savvy, and outspoken.

“She has a political brand,” added Dianne Feinstein and John Garamendi campaign manager Darry Sragow. “She’s very smart, she’s very tough, she’s very strong, she’s outspoken and she’s authentic. She says what she means and she means what she says.”

But Porter now comes in with a lot of unchecked baggage. While she has gone though House and Senate debates, she has never been properly grilled. And the race for Governor can really bring that out.

First of all, her whole attitude turns people off. It has been described as condescending and holier than thou. During her Senate run last year, many Democrats, including former Senator Barbara Boxer (D), called her campaign style “holier than thou” and helped wreck her chances of winning. That personality was a big factor in her barely winning reelection for her House seat in 2020 and 2022 and her embarrassing Senate primary loss in 2024. Talking down to voters only gets someone so far as Porter found out. When her own party can’t stand her at times for her attitude and independent streak, there are problems afoot.

The flaws of Katie Porter

Another trouble spot for Porter are the abuse allegations. Her former husband Matthew Hoffman has said that Porter was physically and emotionally abusive. According to court documents, Hoffman said that she was verbally abusive, threw things at him regularly, bruised him, and even went so far as to dump scalding hot mashed potatoes on his head. That last one became a minor media sensation in early 2023 when Porter was just starting her campaign. Porter’s team even tried to say that he retracted those statements, only for Hoffman to come out and say that he didn’t and everything happened. The abuse allegations were never used in the Senate primary campaign because of Porter slipping so badly in the polls and becoming a distant third by election day, but it remains a major point not challenged in a debate or brought up in ads. Any opponent worth their salt, Republican or Democrat, can easily use this as a big attack point in the Gubernatorial campaign.

Adding to that point is how she is a flat out mean person. It has been reported multiple times that she was abusive and racist to staff and even ridiculed people for reporting sexual harassment. The Washington Post even reported that she berated some staff so hard that they cried and that she created a toxic workplace in the House. Like her abuse allegations, these incidents were never really brought up in the Senate campaign, and can be a huge potential point for her opponents to bring up.

Her childish and immature tactics have won her some supporters at the expense of so many others. In the House, she was notorious for using whiteboards, something which she was asked to stop using many times. And then there was swearing to make her points, or reading books to try and get a humorous reaction during serious legislative proceedings. She may be a single mom who loves the state, but she also said ‘bullsh**’ in her Governor campaign announcement. So, way to show leadership there. And then there are those zingers. She does have some good comebacks, as was seen in the Senate debates, but those only went so far in the long run. A joke during a debate isn’t bad. Banking on jokes to win never ends well as she found out.

Porter’s attacking and accountability style of lawmaking was well-suited for the House. Love her or hate her, she either got answers or stumped people by being unrelenting during committee and subcommittee hearings. It would have likely done well in the Senate too, or if she decided to be a County Commissioner. But as Governor, there’s no committees or subcommittees. It’s all executive. And she has shown little actual leadership. When you don’t get your way as a lawmaker or politician, the sane thing to do is try again, change up tactics, or something else to improve how you did the first time around. For Porter, her first political loss in the Senate primary made her lose it and she lashed out saying that the entire primary was rigged and that was why she lost. She did later apologize and conceded properly, but that knee-jerk reaction was widely mocked at the time.

This mixed reaction Porter has received in running for Governor has been odd, but when looking back at everything Porter has done since 2018 when she first ran for the House, it’s easy to see why. She’s already not the Democrats first choice, and since she promised not to run if Harris does, it could lead to an awkward experience later on if Harris does wind up running.

There is just too much that hasn’t been extensively questioned. There’s so much she hasn’t been grilled on that her opponents will have a field day with it when the time comes for attack ads. She’s a savvy lawmaker, but her flaws could prove to be overwhelming.