Katie Porter’s Something-for-everyone Campaign For Governor

Will Katie Porter run for governor as the face of a resurgent Democratic resistance to President Donald Trump? Or as a pragmatic consensus candidate who will cross ideological lines to find the best solutions?

According to her campaign launch, the answer appears to be … both.

The introductory video from the former Orange County representative jam-packed a little something for everybody into three minutes and 11 seconds. There was plenty of Trump-bashing for her party’s base (as well as a jab at the newest Democratic bête noire, Elon Musk).

But Porter, who rocketed to fame as a warrior against corporate influence, also hit on notes of collaboration and compromise that may come as a surprise to those most familiar with her whiteboard takedowns. She spoke of “working with businesses and protecting workers” and promised an openness to good ideas “no matter where they come from.”

Soon after her launch was official, Porter hopped on the phone with Playbook to explain her campaign theory of the case.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

I was surprised to hear you talk so much about President Donald Trump in your launch video, given that you didn’t talk about him very much at all in your Senate race. How will the current president factor into your campaign messaging this time around?

I hear it every day in my community — when I go to the University of California to teach, when I am in the grocery store — I hear people worried about what Trump is doing and how it is going to affect them. I think there's a very concrete fear, and for good reason. He has made clear he's coming for health care, he's coming for Social Security. He's going to drive up the prices of goods, everyday necessities, like groceries, that people need. And so I think people are hungry for someone who understands what Trump's policies are like and have a track record of being able to take that on.

As you know, I ran for Congress the first time — ran for office for the very first time — after Trump was elected. And I went to Congress and asked tough questions of his advisers, and I was able to get results, including free Covid testing for every single American. And so we need somebody who's going to be able to hold Trump accountable, to stand up to his bullying. When there's an opportunity to deliver for California with Trump's partnership, I'll do that. But I am absolutely willing to stand up to him, and I think that's a message you heard in the video.

California Democrats got some criticism during Trump’s first term that they were so focused on the resistance that they lost focus on some of the state’s big problems, such as housing and affordability. Do you think that criticism is valid? Is it possible to address California’s issues and at the same time, take on Trump?

Absolutely, because Trump is, in many ways, trying to deepen the challenges that are on Californians’ minds. So look at what he's threatening to do with regard to disaster relief. Rather than help us prepare for wildfires, he's withholding aid. We are facing a cost-of-living challenge here in California, and I've seen it firsthand as a parent and as a shopper, and what he's doing with his tariffs is making that problem even worse.

So I absolutely think that we need to look to advance some of the things that we started working on, like housing and homelessness prevention. We need to accelerate those areas, but at the same time, we're going to have to block and tackle when he comes for California, and I absolutely can do both. And I think that's going to be what we need in this moment.

Watching your video, I was trying to figure out the ideological lane you’re trying to occupy in this race.

Hasn’t everyone always tried to figure that out, when I won again and again in Orange County?

Do you think people get you right? Many people see you as a progressive. Do you fit into that ideological frame?

I am a champion for families, and one of the things families need is a thriving economy. I've seen it firsthand. If Trump drives our economy into the tank through his reckless economic policy, who gets hurt first? Who gets the deepest cuts, who recovers last? Our everyday working families. So my favorite line in that video, the one I most want Californians to hear, is when I say I have only ever been motivated by one thing: making Californians’ lives better. And to do that, we have to address the cost of living challenges. We have to make sure California's economy is going to create the good, high-paying jobs that we need, and that we're bringing down some of the costs for the biggest building blocks for families, which include housing and health care.

This is your second statewide run in two years. Last time, the types of voters who it seemed like you were trying to motivate — younger voters, independents, people disillusioned with government — didn’t show up in the primary. What are you going to do this time to make sure those voters show up to the polls and propel you into the top-two general election?

In this moment, Californians want a toughness, they want a fighter, they want a leader. That is really at the center of why I'm running for governor — the commitment I have shown over and over again to be willing to pick up new ideas, to engage in fresh ways, to engage people who really have skepticism about the Democratic Party, have skepticism about where we are.

A lot of the coverage of your campaign notes that there’s a big caveat — that you’ll get out of the race if former Vice President Kamala Harris jumps in. You’ve always portrayed yourself as someone who isn’t necessarily deferential to the Democratic establishment. Does it cut against your brand to say you’ll step down if Harris runs?

I'm launching today, because I'm not waiting around. Trump is inflicting real harm on Californian families. We need to start considering what comes next, how we're going to respond to that. I'm a big supporter of Kamala Harris, as you know. I worked for her. She gave me a start in California public service, helping families who were facing foreclosure back during the foreclosure crisis. And I'm grateful for that opportunity. I think if she chooses to run, as I said, it would have a powerful field-clearing effect. But right now, I'm not going to wait. I think there's a real appetite for that kind of fresh energy.

How do you evaluate how Gov. Gavin Newsom is handling Trump at the moment? He’s been very critical in the past, but he’s toned down the rhetoric, especially as he tries to get more federal aid for wildfire recovery. Do you think he’s striking the right balance?

Gavin Newsom, upon Trump being elected, began to talk to our Legislature and our mayors and other leaders to think about what this is going to mean for California on issues like our health care, for example. I think with regard to the wildfires, it's important to show the president firsthand what happened here on the ground in California. We are a long ways from Washington, and we do not always get the attention on our challenges and our problems that California needs and deserves. And so I think it was appropriate that the governor encouraged the president to be here, that he showed the president firsthand what he had been seeing from his time on the ground in Los Angeles.

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