Just when it appeared Katie Porter had stepped away from politics, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has brought the former congresswoman back into public life.
Newsom appointed the progressive Orange County Democrat to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, just two months after Porter said she was “done, for now, with politics and campaigning.”
The appointment still requires confirmation by the state Senate. If approved, Porter would receive $100 for each day she conducts official business.
Porter placed fifth in California’s crowded top-two gubernatorial primary in June, securing 403,908 votes, or 4.4% of the total, according to state election returns. The result came after her distant third-place finish in the 2024 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat ultimately won by Adam Schiff.
Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton advanced to the November runoff.
Following her second consecutive statewide defeat, Porter said she was ready to put away her trademark whiteboard and pursue something different.
“Hi, it’s Katie Porter with a nonpolitical post,” she said in July. “I’m done for now with politics and campaigning.”
She also renamed her Instagram account “Katie Porter Turns the Page” and began sharing book reviews with her followers.
Her most recent selection, “The Mad Wife” by Meagan Church, drew a mixed assessment from the former congresswoman, whose gubernatorial campaign was overshadowed by allegations of bullying.
In divorce filings from 2013, Porter’s former husband alleged that she had once poured a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes over his head during an argument, burning his scalp. Porter disputed his broader portrayal of their troubled marriage and made allegations of her own in court documents.
The governor’s race also featured leaked footage from a recorded interview in which Porter berated a staffer who stepped into the camera’s view, telling the aide to “get out of my f—ing shot.”
Porter later apologized for shouting at the employee, acknowledging that she “could have been better” during that incident and other tense interactions.
Even so, the Harvard-trained consumer law professor established a national profile during three terms in Congress. She became especially well known for using a whiteboard to question corporate executives and officials in the Donald Trump administration.
Porter left the House in 2025 after losing her Senate bid, then launched another campaign for statewide office this year.
She ran as a staunch critic of President Trump and delivered a profanity-laced denunciation of him at the California Democratic Party convention in February.
Now, following two straight statewide losses and a short-lived turn as a literary influencer, Porter may have found a lower-profile role overseeing part of California’s expansive community college system.
The position, at least, is likely to come with plenty of required reading.
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