Katie Porter’s Senate bid is over — But Her Fundraising PAC is Busy

Last month, the Globe looked into current lame duck Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) as to what her political future will be in the near future. Over the last few days, Porter has revealed what her plans are.

Things have not gone Porter’s way in the last few months. Originally considered  a solid top-two candidate for the U.S. Senate race this year, Porter had dropped her Congressional reelection race thinking that she was a shoo-in. But the popularity of Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the rise of former baseball star Steve Garvey (R) soon pushed her out. Even the last polls before the election were off by how much she would lose it by. Currently, even if she suddenly got double the number of votes, she would still lose to both Garvey and Schiff.

Porter played the sore loser in the aftermath, saying that the election had been “rigged” against her. She lost a lot of respect after that outburst, and days later had to apologize. She stayed quiet for the next few weeks, only coming out as a possible candidate for the 2026 Gubernatorial election. But in recent days, she has announced her post-Congress plans.

First off, she is going to stay politically active. According to Politico, her PAC, for which she is still fundraising, will go towards several Democrats for the 2024 election. Congressman Josh Harder (D-CA), New Jersey Senate Candidate Congressman Andy Kim (D-CA), and the challenger to Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA), Will Rollins, are all beneficiaries. Basically anyone who “refuses corporate PAC money” will get some of hers. Oh, and of course, the candidates have to be against Trump this November too.

“A threat of Trump, while very real and salient to those voters, is not the entirety of what motivates them,” said Porter. “It may be necessary, but not sufficient to get to them to turn out. How do we get people more confidence in Washington? How do we address the disillusionment about our political system? It’s all very, very consistent. I’m not writing checks to the powers that be. I’m trying to shape our democracy to be the strongest, best version of itself.”

In particular, she is angling for state Senator Dave Min (D-Orange County) to be her successor in her OC seat over her Republican rival Scott Baugh. Min, who has been battling to save his public reputation following a DUI arrest last year, barely beat his Democratic rival Joanna Weiss last month to come into second place following Baugh, where they will meet again in November.

“We have to be careful not to let that anxiety doom us to fail,” explained Porter. “I absolutely don’t see why Dave won’t win.”

Back to school

In the short term, Porter also plans to go back to teaching. UC Irvine has held her old law school teaching post open since she originally was elected to Congress back in 2018, so she’ll slide back in. Reportedly, she’ll have courses on bankruptcy law and on legislative and regulatory process.

“To me, educating students who are going to go on to become lawyers and prosecutors and public defenders and judges and civil rights attorneys is also shaping public life,” said Porter.

However, according to some UC Irvine law students, they are going to do anything not to get her.

“There’s a bunch of us here who are going to do anything not to get her if she comes up as a possible professor,” said a group of first year UC Irvine law school students to the Globe via Zoom on Tuesday. “We had heard she was an awful professor before from former students and we don’t want that.”

Another student added “Just the way she acts is horrible. She reminds me of the aunt everyone in the family hates.”

Still another added “I’m unfortunately looking at some bankruptcy law classes because of what I want to study. If I get her for any, I am contacting my advisor and will do anything to switch. You know, get another professor. I’ll take classes on a Saturday. Not her.”

A different student also noted that “Just because she was a member of Congress doesn’t make her a good teacher. You know what good teachers don’t do? Go on crazy rants about how the system is out to get them. I’ll admit, I was a Porter supporter for a bit, but she got a full blownsies of the crazies. She may be a professor here, but she won’t have a lot of our respect. She’s not an anteater in our eyes.”

Porter’s political future, however, is in a bit more doubt. As of Tuesday, she hasn’t ruled out a run for Governor or attorney general in 2026. But, considering that she will remain a member of Congress until January and that she would be entering the race with a massive loss and a crazed outburst on her side, a 2026 run seems unlikely. She also hasn’t ruled out accepting a future cabinet position or running again for her old Congressional seat, especially if Baugh beats Min this year.

“Porter has some big decisions coming up,” said Stephanie Lewis, a pollster in Southern California, to the Globe. “She is both a hot commodity as well as a very toxic one. She needs to prove herself in the next few years to get rid of her ‘loser’ status, back some winners to the House and Senate, not have any controversies, and get over her  ‘rigged’ remarks. She can do it, but this is Porter we’re talking about. She needs to stay in the spotlight but also tread lightly. That isn’t her style.”

What she has ruled out is what most former House members take up upon leaving office – a lobbyist position.

“The majority — maybe even the vast majority — of former members become lobbyists for corporate America,” added Porter. “Since I will not be doing that, I would say it’s actually been challenging to find people” to model herself after.”

But what is known is that she will be in for another stint as a teacher down in Irvine for at least awhile beginning in 2025.

“I’m legitimately afraid for her students,” said one of the UC Irvine students. “I’d rather have the mascot teach us.”