Tuesday saw the announcement by California Representative Katie Porter that she would run for the Senate seat now held by longtime Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2024.
The 89-year-old Feinstein is being challenged for reelection at a time when she hasn’t revealed her intentions for 2024 and was forced to defend her mental capacity. Feinstein has served in Congress since 1992, but Democrats are starting to think that she won’t run for re-election for a sixth consecutive term.
Porter, a former professor of law who attended Harvard Law School under Sen. Elizabeth Warren, is best known for her incisive questioning during hearings of the House oversight committee and for her political antics.
In the area of fundraising, Porter has also established a reputation for herself. She demonstrated her prowess by winning her first election in 2018 and again in 2022 by outlasting a challenging reelection campaign.
Porter declared her campaign in a tweet that began, “California needs a warrior in the Senate—to stand up to special interests, combat the deadly imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for gaming our democracy.”
Porter is now likely to contend with the likes of California Democrats Rep. Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra for the seat if it opens. I started my campaign before any other Democrat. Former member of parliament.
Senate primaries can be particularly contentious. Feinstein has been in the Senate for more than 30 years, and no Democrat is the front-runner to succeed him.
“Of course, everyone is welcome to wear a hat to the ring, and we will announce our plans for 2024 in due course,” Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday. To address this, it added that it is currently “focused on ensuring that California has all the necessary resources.”
At least 14 people have died since late December as a result of the disastrous flooding that is now occurring in California and forcing thousands of others to abandon their homes.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary, which is expected to be close, will be the overwhelming favourite to win the seat going into the general election. Former senator John Seymour, whom Feinstein beat in 1992, was the last Republican to hold one of the state’s two Senate seats.