Chuck Darwin<p>This is not how <a href="https://c.im/tags/Katie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Katie</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Porter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Porter</span></a> hoped to spend her summer.</p><p>The Orange County congresswoman had gone from unknown to <a href="https://c.im/tags/political" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>political</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/celebrity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>celebrity</span></a> virtually overnight, <br>wielding a <a href="https://c.im/tags/whiteboard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>whiteboard</span></a> and marking pen to skewer lobbyists, <br>torment chief executives and harry various corporate heavies <br>— to the utter rapture of the online, cable-TV-consuming wing of the Democratic Party.</p><p>She transformed herself from UC <a href="https://c.im/tags/law" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>law</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/professor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>professor</span></a> into a <a href="https://c.im/tags/fundraising" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fundraising</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/dynamo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>dynamo</span></a>, <br>a <a href="https://c.im/tags/progressive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>progressive</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/heroine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>heroine</span></a> and <br>oft-discussed <a href="https://c.im/tags/prospect" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prospect</span></a> for higher office. </p><p>Then it all came crashing down as Porter lost, badly, in a fractious Senate primary to fellow Rep. Adam B. Schiff. </p><p>Now he’s the one cruising to election and potential lifetime tenure in Washington, as Porter confronts the end of her congressional career a few short months from now</p><p>She has, Porter says, no regrets.</p><p>Do I think I underestimated some factors and overestimated some others? -- Sure. </p><p>“But when I look at that campaign, I don’t think there was ... <br>a particular moment or a particular decision that shaped it either way.”</p><p>“Adam and Barbara and I remained very cordial throughout the race,” Porter said. </p><p>“We saw each other every day at work. People forget that. </p><p>We’re sitting in delegation meetings together; <br>we’re on the airplane together. </p><p>We understand that when you run, someone wins and someone loses.”</p><p>Her one hope for Schiff is that he uses the fall campaign <br>(such as it is against his handpicked opponent, the hapless Republican Steve Garvey) <br>to talk about some of the many issues facing California.</p><p>“We need a real <a href="https://c.im/tags/policy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>policy</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/debate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>debate</span></a> in California,” Porter said. </p><p>“We have a narrative about California being [Gov. Gavin Newsom’s] golden California dreaming, </p><p>but also people who are like, ‘This is a failed state; people are leaving’ <br>— that whole narrative. ... </p><p>This race was a chance to have a real policy debate about our state, <br>and I don’t think that happened.”</p><p>Blame the short attention span of voters. Blame a diminished political press corps. Blame a contest that managed to captivate very few Californians. Blame hairsplitting among generally like-minded Democrats and the lack of any real GOP competition to spur a deep and meaningful discussion.</p><p>Even as Schiff coasts to election, Porter said: <br>“I hope Adam will go back to some of the policies that were really important in the Senate race <br>— whether that was <a href="https://c.im/tags/housing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>housing</span></a>, whether that was the <a href="https://c.im/tags/environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environment</span></a>, <a href="https://c.im/tags/energy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>energy</span></a>, whether that was <a href="https://c.im/tags/taxes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>taxes</span></a> <br>— and try to have some of those conversations and arrive in the Senate really willing to think about </p><p>‘What does California need from Washington?’”</p><p>Congress is a lumbering beast of a place, <br>deeply polarized and highly antagonistic, <br>and Porter said there’s little desire by leaders of either major party to fix that.</p><p>“My colleagues want to talk <br>— and you will hear them talk this fall, whether it’s Congressman Schiff running for the Senate, or a House candidate or Vice President Harris <br>— they want to talk endlessly about the crisis of confidence in the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Supreme" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Supreme</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Court" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Court</span></a>,” Porter said. </p><p>“What about the <a href="https://c.im/tags/crisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>crisis</span></a> of <a href="https://c.im/tags/confidence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>confidence</span></a> in us, <br>in <a href="https://c.im/tags/Congress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Congress</span></a>, <br>and who we work for and how effective we are? </p><p>That’s a conversation worth having, too.”</p><p>(There’s a reason Porter was no favorite of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who threw her considerable clout behind Schiff in the Senate primary.)</p><p>For now, Porter is looking forward to returning to the classroom in January <br>— her face lit up at the mention of standing in front of students again <br>— taking up her old position at UC Irvine. </p><p>She’ll teach a first-year law class and courses on commercial law and legislation.</p><p>She hasn’t ruled out a future run for statewide office <br>— Porter could be a formidable candidate for attorney general or governor <br>— but feels no haste to decide. </p><p>(By contrast, she was the first to jump in to the Senate race, even before the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein had stated her intention to step aside.)</p><p>Porter reprimanded the nearly half dozen gubernatorial hopefuls who’ve already launched their campaigns. </p><p>“Between now and election day, in my opinion, nobody should be campaigning for governor,” Porter said. </p><p>Democrats, quite rightly, insist that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy and that the party must do all it can to stop him. </p><p>“If you believe that” <br>— here Porter brandished a fist <br>— “then that’s what we should all be working on right now.” </p><p>Not jockeying in an election still more than two years off.</p><p>At 50, still in the blush of youth by today’s silvered political standards, Porter has plenty of highway ahead of her.</p><p> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-08-11/katie-porter-political-future-california-senate-orange-county" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">latimes.com/politics/story/202</span><span class="invisible">4-08-11/katie-porter-political-future-california-senate-orange-county</span></a></p>