Katie Porter’s Spiral Has Dems Keeping Their Distance

SAN FRANCISCO — Katie Porter’s public-relations meltdown last week was damaging enough. What may be more humiliating is how few of her former House colleagues or Democratic leaders are rallying to her defense.

Much like her time on Capitol Hill, Porter, the frontrunner in the race for California governor, is on an island — still reeling from the fallout over a pair of viral videos that captured her on-camera outbursts with a staffer and reporter.

“It might reinforce a reputation that already exists,” said Jason Overman, a veteran Democratic consultant from San Francisco. “There’s a lot of things in life that we say by not saying anything.”

In an effort to contain the damage, a handful of labor unions and other allies, including Orange County Rep. David Min, who succeeded Porter in the House, have reaffirmed their support in recent days. But amid a bipartisan crush of criticism, the state’s Democratic delegation has largely gone silent. If berating a staffer and threatening to walk out of an interview ignited criticism of Porter’s temperament and judgment, the lack of support laid bare her isolation — a political liability as she scrambles to maintain her lead in a still-fluid governor’s race.

POLITICO approached more than a dozen current and former Democratic lawmakers from California for comment on the videos and their interactions with Porter from her years in the House. The vast majority declined to comment — let alone defend Porter. Even Rep. Derek Tran, a fellow Orange County Democrat and one of two members of California’s Democratic congressional delegation who’ve endorsed Porter for governor, declined to comment.

Others were granted anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive topic.

“Katie Porter is apparently the smartest person in every single room, and she’s not afraid to make you know it,” said one former House colleague from California.

The Democratic lawmaker added, “This is still a job that’s about relationships.”

Porter’s years in the House did little to foster the kind of political allies that could help pull her through a crisis like the one she is enduring now. Arriving in the House in 2018 after flipping a battleground seat — part of a class that included several young progressive stars — Porter gained notoriety for her whiteboard takedowns of corporate CEOs and persona as a minivan-driving single mother to three children. But in cultivating an against-the-grain attitude, she also frequently criticized party norms and challenged the House's institutional rules, especially its deference to seniority.

Her relationships with many colleagues flatlined, with reports of friction between the representative and fellow Democrats, most notably top party brass like then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

That tension with Pelosi surfaced in last year’s Senate primary, when the former speaker backed Adam Schiff in California’s Senate race and rallied labor unions and large donors to his side. Porter, meanwhile, only had the endorsement of one of her more than 40 former Democratic House colleagues and finished third in the primary.

“I didn’t agree with the characterization that Congresswoman Porter presented about Congress not doing this and that and the other thing,” Pelosi said last year in an interview with Fox 11 News in Los Angeles. “I was disappointed in how she’s diminished what Congress has done rather than taking pride for any role that she may have had in it.”

Before that, it was Rep. Jared Huffman offering a terse take on her Senate campaign: “What can I say on the record that does not insult my colleague Katie Porter?” he told The Los Angeles Times at the time.

Huffman, a former colleague of Porter, declined to comment on the videos. So did Pelosi’s office. The former speaker hasn’t made an endorsement in the governor’s race, though she’s been meeting with candidates in recent months.

Another Democratic lawmaker from California, who was also granted anonymity, said the fractured relationship with Pelosi — a kingmaker in Democratic politics in California — could be a significant liability for Porter.

“If I were running for anything in California, I would want Nancy Pelosi to be in my corner,” the lawmaker said.

Peter Opitz, a spokesperson for Porter’s campaign, downplayed reports of tension with lawmakers on the Hill: “Katie appreciates and admires Speaker Pelosi and her former colleagues, and she is proud of the many times they partnered together to help Californians,” he said in a statement.

Opitz added, “She still has close relationships with many and looks forward to the speaker and her former colleagues’ counsel when she is governor.”

But the race may get more difficult for Porter soon. Even before the viral videos surfaced, some Democrats in the state had been working to recruit Sen. Alex Padilla, a longtime ally of Pelosi who is weighing a run.

Padilla, asked about the controversy surrounding Porter last week, told CNN, “I'm not even sure what to say.”

Scrutiny of Porter’s relationships on Capitol Hill, including allegations that she treated aides poorly, has been heightened in recent days by the viral videos, and her rivals in the 2026 governor’s race jumped on the bad headlines.

In her response to the video of her berating a staffer in 2021, Porter said in a statement last week that she has “sought to be more intentional in showing gratitude to my staff for their important work.”

Min, one of two House Democrats who have endorsed Porter, called her a “fighter” and “smart as a whip” and said she would “make a great governor, and I’m proud to support her.” Rep. Robert Garcia, who endorsed her for Senate, has not waded into the gubernatorial race. He declined to comment on the videos.

Republicans, conversely, have been eager to. Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican consultant based in Los Angeles, said Porter’s clashes with fellow Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi in particular, were well known to Beltway insiders during her years in Congress.

“It was an open secret on Capitol Hill and among politicians that she was not a team player,” he said. “There’s show horses and there’s work horses — and she was never accused of being a work horse.”

Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.