Former Democratic US House member Katie Porter announced Tuesday that she's entering the 2026 contest for California governor, reports the AP, joining a crowded field that could be upended if former Vice President Kamala Harris joins the race. Porter, who became a social media celebrity by brandishing a whiteboard at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs, promised in a campaign launch video to be an aggressive counterweight to President Trump. "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 hasn't ruled out seeking the governorship. Porter is friendly with the former VP 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.
"There are very few politicians who would want to take [Harris] on," said Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney. Porter, who made an unsuccessful run for US 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. On the GOP side, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco last month became the first major Republican to announce a bid to replace Newsom.
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Even if Harris gets in the race, the state's open primary system can be unpredictable—all candidates appear on a single ballot, regardless of party, and only the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election. Trump-aligned candidates could enter on the GOP side, generating conservative interest, or a wealthy candidate could emerge with the funds to rattle the expected order. "These open primaries are hard to handicap," said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta.
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