Why Katie Porter’s still emailing you

Your afternoon must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State

Apr 08, 2024 View in browser   By Melanie Mason CHECK YOUR EMAIL: Rep. Katie Porter’s Senate campaign folded last month after a third-place primary finish, but her fundraising operation is still very much alive. The Orange County Democrat has been sending several email missives each week, soliciting campaign cash for like-minded members of her party. For Porter, her “Truth to Power” leadership PAC is a way to ensure her crusade against corporate influence in politics continues — even when she no longer holds elected office. So far, Porter has emailed to pitch candidates both homegrown (California Rep. Josh Harder and Will Rollins, who is challenging GOP Congressmember Ken Calvert) and far-flung (New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, who is running for Senate, as well as the Biden-Harris presidential campaign). The unifying theme among these contenders: an allergy to corporate money, a trait that Porter said “is still not the norm in the Democratic party.” The criteria for picking candidates to support, Porter told Playbook in an interview, boils down to two questions, which hearken back to her dominant campaign theme: “Will you refuse corporate PAC money? And, will you support a ban on congressional stock trading?” That message failed to get Porter into the general election. But, she said, it was a key part of the 2018 wave that propelled her to Congress and she continues to see it as crucial for Democrats’ fortunes in the fall, as the party struggles to engage younger, diverse, more independent voters who largely didn’t show up in the primary. “A threat of Trump, while very real and salient to those voters, is not the entirety of what motivates them. It may be necessary, but not sufficient to get to them to turn out,” Porter said. “How do we get people more confidence in Washington? How do we address the disillusionment about our political system?” Revving up her email list — which Porter put on the market in a last-ditch bid to raise money in the waning days of her Senate race — to lift up other candidates could appear to some as a fence-mending exercise, particularly after she irked fellow Democrats by calling her loss “rigged.” Not so, said Porter, pointing out that her leadership PAC has been active since 2020 and gave more than $250,000 to candidates last cycle, per OpenSecrets’ campaign finance tracker. “It’s all very, very consistent … I'm not writing checks to the powers that be. I'm trying to shape our democracy to be the strongest, best version of itself,” she said. Katie Porter at the California Senate debate, Feb. 12, 2024. | Inside California Politics For now, Porter plans to return to teaching at UC Irvine once her congressional term ends, potentially adding a class on the legislative and regulatory process to her traditional course load focused on bankruptcy law. She brushed off whether her continued presence on the fundraising front offers any tea leaves about future plans. But she flatly ruled out one well-trodden path for former members of Congress. “The majority — maybe even the vast majority — of former members become lobbyists for corporate America,” Porter said. “Since I will not be doing that, I would say it's actually been challenging to find people” to model herself after. IT’S MONDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to mmason@politico.com or send a shout on X. DMs are open.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY MAKING DOWNTOWNS BRIGHT AGAIN: Mayors from major cities across California were at the state Capitol today to testify about an issue that continues to plague their locals post-pandemic: the exceptionally slow recovery of downtowns across the Golden State. The mayors — London Breed of San Francisco, Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, Rex Richardson of Long Beach and Patricia Lock Dawson of Riverside — pleaded with legislators to do more to help their communities revive sleepy urban centers. They expressed support for legislation that would make it easier to convert vacant office buildings into housing as well as streamline the planning process to build new universities, and sports and entertainment venues, in downtown areas. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg | Rich Pedroncelli, File/AP “We must be creative and aggressive in our work to transform our city’s core from an outdated 9-to-5 office environment to a bustling 24/7 neighborhood,” Breed said. It was the first hearing held by the Assembly’s new subcommittee dedicated to downtown revitalization, which is chaired by San Francisco Democrat Matt Haney. He said the panel will study several of the proposals supported by the mayors to transform urban office hubs into more lively neighborhoods. But there were some players in the room who impressed upon the lawmakers and mayors that the problem can’t be solved by new construction alone. They said cities need to confront their thorny challenges with homelessness, crime, mental illness and addiction — problems that have caused people to avoid downtown areas they perceive as unsafe. “What we’re seeing is a lot of these young people cocooning in their apartments — online internet sales to Amazon, food-delivery services,” testified John Caner, CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association. “We need the downtowns welcoming.” — Dustin Gardiner ON THE BEATS FLOOR IT: The Assembly will likely hold a floor vote on $17 billion in early actions to shrink the state’s budget deficit on Thursday, Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel said this afternoon. The vote would advance a deal reached by Assembly and Senate leadership and Gov. Gavin Newsom last week including spending cuts, delays and other cost savings to the state. Budget legislation typically passes along party lines in the California Legislature, so the vote will likely be more of a procedural step than a gauge of the package’s popularity within the Democratic caucus. The Legislature will continue to weigh more controversial pieces of Newsom’s January budget proposal as he prepares to present a revised plan in May. — Blake Jones Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posts a picture of city staff looking at today's partial solar eclipse.| Mayor Karen Bass on X | Mayor Karen Bass on X STARING AT THE SUN: Elected officials across California joined in on the fun staring at a solar eclipse earlier today. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shared her “partial eclipse, total enjoyment” with a picture of city staff viewing the eclipse from the rooftop. Sen. Alex Padilla created a very Californian replica of the eclipse using an avocado and a tortilla. No one appears to have replicated then-president Donald Trump’s 2017 photo of staring at a solar eclipse without eye protection. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is running for governor in 2026, in fact tweeted a photo declaring herself “Eclipse ready” with the proper eyewear.   Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Use our Legislative Tracker to see what’s on the Albany agenda. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more.     WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY STUDENTS RELIEVED: President Joe Biden announced a plan to cancel more than 30 million Americans’ student debt by fall, renewing a campaign promise rejected by the Supreme Court in his first attempt. (POLITICO) MASS EXODUS: California lost more than 75,000 people from 2022 to 2023, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. (Los Angeles Times) AROUND THE STATE MODESTO: California’s attorney general is questioning the accuracy of sexual education materials given to Modesto City School students by a Christian pregnancy group. (Modesto Bee) BAY AREA: San Francisco says it will sue if Oakland airport goes through with plans to change the name to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.” (San Francisco Chronicle)   Follow us on Twitter POLITICO California @politicoca   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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