Ballots are being mailed out to voters across the state and top of the ticket is the race for California governor.
We’re continuing our series of conversations with the gubernatorial candidates, up next is Democrat Katie Porter.
The former congressmember served in the House for three terms and ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2024.
Now, the Democrat is the only female frontrunner vying to become the next leader of the Golden State.
She joined Insight with Vicki Gonzalez to talk about her first priorities in office if elected.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
You are a three-time congressmember as well as a lawyer and a law professor. What drew you to politics?
Well, I ran for Congress after Donald Trump's first election. It wasn't my first experience in public service. For three years before that, I ran a statewide eviction prevention program at the invitation of then Attorney General, now former Vice President, Kamala Harris. And so worked across the state to help families who've been victimized by predatory lending. And so a lot of my career had been about affordability, about housing costs. And after Donald Trump got elected, I knew we were in for a world of hurt.
And so I flipped a seat in Orange County that had been held by a Republican for 75 years. But it was really about recognizing that if we just keep doing the same old stuff Democrats had been doing and we keep electing the same old people, we're going to end up with more of Trump. And I think that's sadly where we find ourselves now in the Trump 2.0 presidency.
Aside from being the top state position in California, what attracts you to being governor?
Governors have the ability to make sure the government is working in ways that are different from being in the legislature. When the legislature has an idea or they go to tackle a problem, they need to have a partnership with the governor. You can have the best idea in the whole world, but if you have an administration or personnel that is not on board, then your idea will not actually help people.
You'll have had a press conference about your law, but your law will not have changed people's lives. You don't always need to pass more laws. Sometimes you need somebody who will actually make the laws we've got, effective.
California regularly gets touted as the fourth largest economy, but there's a lot of Californians who are frustrated with the cost of living. What can leaders be doing better to address affordability?
I've rolled out a policy to eliminate California's state income taxes for those earning less than $100,000. And I think Democrats in the Sacramento establishment for too long have seen taxes as only a one-way ratchet. But really we can do something to give Californians who are struggling to make ends meet more money every single paycheck by eliminating California state income taxes.
That really does help. And we know that when you give people more of their own paycheck, they make good choices with it. They buy healthier food. They cater a little emergency savings cushion. They're able to put their kids in an after-school program.
I think Democrats have gotten into this attitude that we just keep creating programs, more programs, bigger programs, more, more, more. But sometimes the best solution is actually to let people keep more of what they earn.
Given the large fluctuations we’ve seen in the state’s budget from year to year, how would you make sure California works within its means?
We're not in a moment where we can have everything, which means you have to make priority choices. So I would look at every dollar going into the budget and ask this question. Is this an investment of our tax dollars?
For example, keeping kids fed is a great investment. [Schools with free meals] have healthier kids, they have quieter classrooms, you get better academic achievement. We're spending that money today and we're getting something back tomorrow. Funding for our state universities, infrastructure, green energy, these things pay back
And then there's spending. There's stuff like, you buy the ice latte, you drink it. You probably could have had a glass of water and you would have been about the same. That's the stuff that we have to look really hard at.
So that would be a lens that I would look at every single dollar and taxpayers should expect that kind of accountability from Democrats, both in the legislature and as their next governor.
Do you have an example of one of those ‘latte’ investments?
I thought about this with homelessness to some degree because look, permanent supportive housing is really important to help people who have been on the streets, to come in off the streets and get the services they need. But it costs a lot to do per person.
Homelessness prevention, the typical cost to keep someone from being evicted is $7,000, $6,500. Wow, that is a lot more bang for our buck. So, I we have to start thinking about how do we get ahead of some problems. Because if not, even though we're fixing the problem, the problem's growing just as fast as we're fixing it. And I think that's why people feel frustrated about homelessness.
I also think we can have some efficiencies, instead of having 62 different programs to help people with health care costs. Can we consolidate and focus on something like our own prescription drug programs, CalRx. We're the nation's fourth largest economy. Let's act like it and actually drive down costs by using our size to get a better deal for taxpayers.
As you laid out, you stand in strong opposition to President Trump and his policies, but are there any avenues where you could work with his administration?
Well, you hope so. You hope that you will see the president treat California in an even-handed way and not act like we're just a place for political punishment, right? We've seen too much of that. We've seen it with wildfire funding, for example.
So, I hope that President Trump respects everything that California adds to the economy, adds to the United States and treats us equally to every other state. We have some special needs here in California like wildfire prevention. We also have some amazing things that we send to the federal government and contribute to the economy, like the largest tax base.
And so I will go in and say to President Trump, "Here's what California needs. We need to bring down the cost of housing. Is that something we can cooperate on?" At the same time, if what he does is come for Californians, he's coming straight through me and I will not back down.
