Like y’all, I was paying attention to the primary runoffs in California this week, and up until now, I hadn’t been thinking of Katie Porter. Katie Porter, the potato-dumping, f-bomb-flinging “scrapper” that we all fell in love with, and that was heavy, heavy sarcasm, finished well below the runoff cutoff.
Will we miss her? Hell no! Have we seen the last of her? I hope so, but I doubt it. There are other offices for her to run for, and I can’t imagine her ego lets her walk away.
California voters gave former Rep. Katie Porter a message she won’t be able to erase with one of her famous whiteboards. In this week’s primary for governor, Porter finished fifth in the all-party field with 255,892 votes and 4.5% as one of the latest unofficial counts.
Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former television host and former adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, led with 1,535,917 votes and 27.2%. Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, a former Secretary of Health and Human Services and former California attorney general, followed with 1,471,059 votes and 26%. Environmental advocate and billionaire investor Tom Steyer sat in third, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco came in fourth.
Porter conceded on primary night after the numbers made the obvious unavoidable. California’s top-two primary system sends only the two highest finishers to November, regardless of party. Porter didn’t just miss the runoff; she missed it by several potato fields.
After years of national attention, viral clips, cable-news applause, and the carefully polished image of a progressive scrapper, she couldn’t crack 5% in a state where Democrats dominate statewide politics.
Porter built her brand in Congress by grilling executives and government officials with a marker in her hand and a camera close by. She flipped an Orange County House seat in 2018 and served three terms before leaving Congress in January 2025, returning to the University of California, Irvine School of Law as a professor.
Her campaign for governor leaned into big-ticket promises, including free child care, tuition-free public college, and state income tax relief for families earning under $100,000. She also pushed a hard-left immigration message that included abolishing ICE.
California heard the kettle of boiling potatoes being poured out and kept walking.
The harder problem for Porter was never just policy; her public act had started to curdle. A 2021 video showed Porter snapping at a staffer during a Zoom call with then-U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Another tense exchange with a reporter revived questions about her temperament when she asked Porter about President Donald Trump.
Porter later tried to turn the staffer episode into a campaign ad, which was certainly a choice. It landed as hard as a potato fired from a spud gun.
Voters often forgive a sharp tongue when it serves a purpose. They’re less patient when the sharp tongue projects the whole personality.
For those wondering why in the heck I keep bringing up potatoes, it’s because Porter’s ex-husband accused her of dumping boiling potatoes over his head. From Yahoo News.
Porter’s ex, Matthew Hoffman, said in court filings about a decade ago that the enraged congresswoman once smashed a glass coffee pot on the counter because she didn’t believe their house was clean enough. He accused her of dumping a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes on his head, burning his scalp. And he said she frequently accused him of being a “f***ing idiot” and “f***ing incompetent,” according to the paper.
“She would not let me have a cell phone because she said, ‘you’re too f***ing dumb to operate it,” Hoffman said in court documents. He also accused Porter of throwing “toys, books, and other objects” when she gets angry.
Her fall also says something about the limits of viral politics. A candidate can trend, scold, lecture, and rack up applause from people who already agree with her. A governor’s race requires more than a clip that performs well online.
Porter left a safe House seat to chase higher office, lost the 2024 Senate primary, and then tried again for governor. California Democrats had many choices in 2026, and enough of them decided the Porter routine had run its course.
Please, please, no tears.
Porter entered the race with name recognition, donor energy, a national following, and years of friendly attention from progressive circles. She ended behind Hilton, Becerra, Steyer, and Bianco.
For a politician who often presented herself as the fearless voice of working families, the result was blunt. Voters didn’t buy the reboot, and they didn’t reward the performance.
California politics may yet offer Porter another office to chase, because ambition like hers rarely takes defeat as final. For now, though, the whiteboard is blank, the lecturing is over, and the voters have sent her to the grocery store to pick up more potatoes.
California voters just gave Katie Porter the kind of lesson no whiteboard could rescue. If you want independent conservative coverage that cuts through the noise, joins the dots, and doesn’t treat political theater like public service, join the PJ Media VIP family today. Use promo code FIGHT and get 60% off your subscription here.
