Former US Rep. Katie Porter steps into crowded California governor’s race

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Democratic U.S. House member Katie Porter announced Tuesday that she is entering the 2026 contest for California governor, joining a crowded field of candidates that could be upended if former Vice President Kamala Harris joins the race.

Porter, who became a social media celebrity by brandishing a white board at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs, promised in a campaign launch video to be an aggressive counterweight to President Donald Trump’s administration at a time when the heavily Democratic state has clashed with the White House over issues from water management to immigrant rights.

“In Congress, I held the Trump administration’s feet to the fire when they hurt Americans. 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 said.

The contest to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom already has lured a large scrum of announced and likely candidates that would be upended if Harris decides to seek the state’s top office.

Harris, a former state attorney general and U.S. senator, has not ruled out seeking the governorship since she left Washington in January after a failed presidential bid. Porter is friendly with the former vice president and has indicated she would step aside if Harris joins the race. In 2012, Harris, then California’s attorney general, appointed Porter to be the state’s independent bank monitor in a multibillion-dollar nationwide mortgage settlement.

If Harris gets in the race “there are very few politicians who would want to take her on,” Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney said. “She’d be likely to win the Democratic nomination, and Democrats are likely to win the governorship.”

Porter, who made an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate last year and also is known for her small-dollar fundraising prowess, becomes one of the best-known candidates, joining former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, among others, on the Democratic side.

Democrats are expected to easily hold the seat in a state where they outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2 to 1. Republicans have not won a statewide election in California in nearly two decades.