Rep. Katie Porter doesn’t necessarily want to be asked if she’s running for governor. Instead, she’d rather people tell her what they’re looking for in California’s next chief executive.
Porter is set to leave Washington, D.C., on Jan. 2 after just three terms in Congress. She opted not to run for re-election this year; instead, she mounted a bid for California’s open U.S. Senate seat, losing in the March primary.
For now, life after D.C. looks like a return to teaching at UC Irvine School of Law next month. Porter is excited, she said, to rejoin the institution where she’s worked since 2011 (she’s been on leave for the past five years as she’s been in the House). She’s spent recent days walking the campus and preparing for her first-year class on how legislation happens.
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But in the backdrop of her UCI homecoming are the rumblings about her political future. Is Porter gearing up for a run for California’s governor in 2026?
She’s not ready to say yes — but she’s not saying no.
Right now, she said, she’s “listening” to her neighbors, business owners and nonprofit leaders. She’s contemplating what the future of California does — and should — look like.
“I’m thinking about what a lot of Californians are, like will my kids be able to get into college here? Or will they get jobs in California? And if they do, will they ever be able to move off my couch and afford to buy an apartment or rent an apartment here,” Porter, 50, said in a recent interview at a Costa Mesa Starbucks.
“I don’t know whether I’ll run in 2026 or not, but I know that I’m tremendously benefiting from having conversations with people who are currently in office, who used to be in office, who are business leaders and just thinking about California,” Porter said.
In the meantime, Porter’s Woman Up PAC recently commissioned a poll of likely 2026 primary voters in California.
It’s an…
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