California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter announced her bid for the U.S. Senate in 2024 on Tuesday, a bold move as Washington waits to hear whether incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will seek re-election or retire.
In a statement after Porter’s announcement, Feinstein said that “everyone is, of course, welcome to throw their hat in the ring,” adding that she will outline her plans for 2024 “at the appropriate time.” Feinstein, 89, has faced increased scrutiny and concern over her mental acuity over the past year. Should she announce her retirement, the field of candidates vying to replace her is expected to be full.
Porter’s House campaign reported raising more money during the 2022 election cycle than other rumored U.S. Senate candidates from California, although it rejected contributions from PACs and corporate lobbyists. The California congresswoman was the top Democratic fundraiser in the House for the 2022 election cycle during the post-general period.
Porter’s campaign reported raising $25.4 million, about $1 million more than former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reported raising during the same period The only U.S. House candidate to raise more money than Porter was newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who reported $26.5 million raised during the election cycle of 2022.
After a 3-point victory over his Republican challenger in the midterm elections, Porter’s House campaign reported $7.7 million available in the post-general period that he can use for his Senate bid .
About $581,000 of Porter’s campaign came from PACs. Most of that came from single-issue or ideological groups, including $10,000 from a Democratic hybrid PAC called the Voter Protection Project, $5,500 from the progressive campaign finance reform group End Citizens United and $102,900 dollars from leadership PACs.
Leadership PACs affiliated with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) each contributed $10,000 to the campaign of Porter during the 2022 midterm elections. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) endorsed Porter’s U.S. Senate bid on NBC Thursday morning. Warren’s leadership PAC, PAC for a Level Playing Field, contributed $10,000 to Porter’s House re-election campaign during the 2018 election cycle. Warren ended her leadership PAC that cycle.
In a video In announcing his Senate campaign, Porter promised to take on special interests like Wall Street, big banks and the oil and pharmaceutical industry.
“The threat of so-called leaders like [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)] He has too often turned the United States Senate into the place where rights are revoked, special interests are rewarded, and our democracy is manipulated,” said the single working mother.
Porter is the co-president and co-founder of the End Corruption Caucus in the US House, which aims to “hold Washington accountable to working families” instead of big corporations or special interests.
In 2022, the California congresswoman partnered with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.) to introduce the Actions Act 2.0, which would ban members of Congress, the president and vice president, Supreme Court justices and certain members of the Federal Reserve trade. individual actions. The bill would also require covered officials to disclose whether they, their families or their businesses receive loans, agreements, contracts, grants or payments from the federal government.
Porter also co-sponsored the August 2022 Stop Scam PACs Act with Texas Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw. The bill would prohibit the misrepresentation of activities on behalf of candidates and political parties, committees and organizations for other purposes. A joint investigation in 2021 between OpenSecrets and the Daily Beast exposed how the American Breast Cancer Coalition, which sought to raise money in robocalls to “support lawmakers who will fight for the swift passage of health care bills of breast cancer and life-saving breast cancer treatment drugs.” the FDA”: directed nearly all of the $3.6 million it raised in 2019 and 2020 to fundraising ventures.
No bills passed in the 117th Congress, but Porter sponsored 48 bills, more than double the average of 22 bills introduced by 435 members of the US House. He co-sponsored 579 more, hundreds more than the average of 328.
Reps. Lee, Schiff and Khanna, who are also weighing 2024 US Senate bids, criticize the timing of Porter’s announcement
Historic storms in California that have killed at least 17 people and caused massive flooding and mudslides preceded Porter’s announcement, making her an easy target for other California representatives who are also reported to are weighing bids for Feinstein’s US Senate seat.
“While the United States Senate is sorely lacking in the presence of people of color, particularly black women, today I am focused on helping Californians stay safe in this extreme climate and fighting the extreme agenda of House Republicans,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a former leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote in a statement to the Washington Post on Tuesday.
Lee told colleagues at a closed-door meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate, POLITICO reported.
Lee’s campaign reported raising $2 million during the 2022 election cycle, including $15,000 from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield PAC and $10,000 from PACs affiliated with the National Health Workers Union, the Association National Association of Realtors and the American Federation of Teachers. His leadership PAC, One Voice, reported raising more than $333,000.
A person close to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — who has expressed interest in running for Feinstein’s seat should she retire — told POLITICO on Tuesday that they were “perplexed” by Porter’s decision to announce as Californians faced unrelenting storms.
Another prodigious fundraiser, Schiff’s campaign reported raising $24.4 million during the 2022 election cycle in post-general reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, including $587,000 from individuals and PACs affiliated with lawyers and pressure groups. Its top contributors include the University of California, Comcast and the lobbying firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. Schiff’s leadership PAC Frontline USA reported receiving $2.1 million during the same period.
Rep. Ro Khanna, another California Democrat weighing a run for the U.S. Senate, said he was focused on his district at the moment, adding: “In the next few months, I will make a decision.”
Khanna, like Porter and Lee, is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. His campaign reported raising $5.8 million during the 2022 election cycle, including nearly $1.1 million from people affiliated with the securities and investment industry. Major contributors to Khanna’s campaign include people affiliated with tech giants Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company), Meta, Apple and Twitter, which reflect the Silicon Valley district it represents.
The California congressman has publicly criticized Congress for failing to regulate the tech industry and introduced legislation that includes the Internet Bill of Rights, but told POLITICO in December that “technology is a force that can be used to to the good”. Khanna, an intellectual property attorney and member of the Congressional Antitrust Caucus, pointed to “technological illiteracy” in Congress as a big reason for the lack of federal data privacy laws and antitrust regulations.
Senior data analyst Brendan Glavin contributed to this report.
