“I’m running for U.S. Senate because Californians deserve a warrior in Washington who will fight for them,” Porter, 49, wrote. “In the House, I stood up to leaders of both parties — as the only Democrat to oppose earmarks and one of a dozen members of Congress who rejected lobbyist and corporate PAC money.”
Porter made his announcement despite California’s senators, Democrats Feinstein and Alex Padilla, saying they plan to vacate their seats. Padilla, 49, won election to his first full, six-year term in November. Feinstein, 89, last year He filed initial papers to contest re-election in 2024 But he has not made it clear that he will seek another term.
California needs a warrior in the Senate—to stand up for special interests, fight dangerous inequality in our economy, and hold leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for rigging our democracy.
Today, I am proud to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate in 2024. pic.twitter.com/X1CSE8T12B
— Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) January 10, 2023
“Everyone is certainly welcome to throw their hat in the ring, and I will make an announcement about my plans for 2024 in due course,” Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday. “Now I’m focused on making sure California has all the resources we need to deal with the devastating storms that left more than a dozen dead.”
Feinstein, the oldest senator, has fended off questions about her age and ability to serve for years, but has relinquished several key roles in recent years. He resigned as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee before the 117th Congress.
Last year, Feinstein refused to consider becoming pro-president of the Senate, which traditionally goes to the senior senator of the ruling party and third in line to the presidency. Instead, the role was played by Sen. Patty went to Murray (D-Wash.).
Porter, who represents large parts of Orange County, was first elected to Congress in 2018. After redefining last year, Porter won again.Election For his seat in November — now in California’s 47th congressional district — about 3 percentage points.
The race for Feinstein’s seat will be a competitive and expensive one, regardless of whether Feinstein runs for re-election. Several California Democrats are reportedly exploring Senate runs, including Reps. Ro Khanna and Adam P. Schiff included. Seriously consider a bid If Feinstein retires.
Khanna said he is focusing on the severe storms and flooding in California and will make a decision “in the next few months.” A person familiar with Schiff’s thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions, said Tuesday that Schiff will determine his own timeline.
“It’s not dictated by what Katie Porter is doing, and it never will be,” the person said, citing the California storms. “You don’t announce your next political move in the middle of a national disaster where 15 people have already died and many more may come.”
Porter’s background as a consumer finance expert and former bankruptcy law professor has helped him gain national attention. Grilling of bank and drug administration officials In congressional hearings, often when writing mathematical equations a Whiteboard. He is a Sen. at Harvard Law School. Studied under Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and later became co-chair of Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign.
After then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin questioned whether Porter was a lawyer in a controversial hearing in 2020, Warren defended his protégé.
“I’ve known Rep. Katie Porter since she was a law student in my bankruptcy class 20 years ago,” Warren said. He wrote then. “To answer your stupid question, Secretary Mnuchin: Representative Porter is not only a lawyer, but he can run circles around you and your legally questionable and morally bankrupt policy failures.”
On Tuesday, the Progressive Change Campaign Group, a Warren-endorsed PAC, said it would endorse Porter for Senate, and its members have donated more than $400,000 to Porter’s congressional campaigns.
“At the family level, Katie knows how to challenge authority on behalf of families,” PCCC co-founder Adam Green said in a statement. “We’ve been fighting Katie from the beginning because she’s taken on predatory banks, corporate executives and big money special interests.”
Feinstein, a former mayor of San Francisco, was elected to the Senate in 1992 amid women’s outrage over Anita Hill, who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. He denied the allegations.
