Who is Katie Porter?
A 50-year-old single mother of three, Katie Porter grew up on a farm in Iowa.
Her father was a farmer who became a banker while her mother was the Porter half of the "Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting" television show.
Porter graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School.
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During her first race, she talked about receiving a restraining order against her then-husband as they were divorcing.
What political party does she belong to?
Porter is a Democrat.
What experience does she have?
As a first-time candidate in 2018, Porter flipped a Republican congressional seat to become the first Democrat to represent her Orange County district. She has been re-elected twice.
She taught law in Nevada and Iowa before becoming a tenured professor of bankruptcy law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.
Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris appointed Porter the state’s independent monitor of banks during the country’s $25 billion mortgage settlement in 2012.
She helped Congress to enact protections against abusive credit card fees in 2009 in the Credit CARD Act.
What are her key issues?
She is a consumer advocate who says she wants to hold the financial industry to account and crack down on corporate greed. In Congress, she is a member of House Financial Services Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
She has worked to lower drug prices, raise fees on polluters, improve mental health coverage, close health coverage gaps, and reduce out-of-pocket health care costs.
On the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, an emerging issue for Democrats especially, she switched positions and now favors a "lasting bilateral ceasefire."
Who has endorsed her?
She has the support of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and California U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia.
In the News
Who is Porter running against?
Two Democrats, Reps. Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee, and Republican Steve Garvey, the former baseball star. In all, twenty-seven names appear on the ballot.
When is California’s primary and general election in 2024?
The state's primary is Tuesday, March 5. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
What is Porter best known for?
She’s has gone viral for her white board and sharp questioning at congressional hearings.
She grilled Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s billionaire CEO, on the finances of a hypothetical teller whose salary left her $567 short each month, and Celgene CEO Mark Alles about the link between his $13 million compensation and a $500 price hike for one pill of the cancer drug Revlimid.
