Regrets. Katie Porter Has a Few After CA Senate Primary Loss … Kinda

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) ran in the California Senate primary. She lost. She blamed her loss on the election being ‘rigged’ during an interview on a podcast earlier this month. Yikes!

That term has frequently been associated with Donald Trump, so it is unusual to hear it from a California progressive Democrat. She blamed wealthy donors of her colleague, Rep. Adam Schiff. 

Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign and voted to shake up the status quo in Washington. Because of you, we had the establishment running scared — withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election. (1/)

— Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) March 6, 2024

Community Notes on X corrected Porter’s tweet. The primary election wasn’t rigged. One candidate being outspent by an opponent is as old as time. At the time she posted that tweet, she received lots of blowback. Instead of correcting how she misspoke, she doubled down and released a statement. 

Please find a statement from me below. pic.twitter.com/as8H2cHWL8

— Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) March 7, 2024

“‘Rigged’ means manipulated by dishonest means. A few billionaires spent $10 million+ on attack ads against me, including an ad rated ‘false’ by an independent fact-checker. That is dishonest means to manipulate an outcome. I said ‘rigged by billionaires’ and our politics are—in fact—manipulated by big dark money. Defending democracy means calling that out. At no time have I ever undermined the vote count and election process in CA, which are beyond reproach.”

Is she saying she would have done differently, given the opportunity? Would she refuse the donations from billionaires if they supported her? Of course not. I think one big factor in Schiff’s defeat of Porter was Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement of him. She did that pretty early in the primary campaign. 

Porter was likely talking about the millions of dollars that were spent by Schiff’s campaign and the pro-Schiff super PACs who worked to boost the Republican candidate in the primary – Steve Garvey. Garvey finished second, Porter finished third, and Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee finished fourth. Garvey’s advancement to challenge Schiff on the ballot in November and Porter’s loss likely work to help Schiff. California had an open primary so the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

This Senate seat is the open that the late Dianne Feinstein held for decades. When she passed away, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to finish Feinstein’s term. 

So, Porter let this kerfuffle simmer for a while. She appeared on the Pod Save America podcast on Tuesday. That is the podcast hosted by former Obama bros. Former Obama speechwriter Jon Levitt mocked Porter about how she could “stop the steal.” That is when she offered regrets for her statements earlier in the other podcast.