In what may be a bloody Democratic primary, California Rep. Katie Porter declared her intention to run for the Senate in 2024 on Tuesday.
Since joining the Senate in 1992, 89-year-old Feinstein has served in that capacity for twenty years. Her office did not reply to a request for comment regarding Porter’s statement. But many Democrats think she will likely resign rather than run for a sixth term.
Since first winning her Orange County-area House seat in 2018, Porter, a former law professor who has demonstrated to be a prodigious fundraiser, has faced a challenging reelection campaign. In 2022, when the redistricting process placed her home in Irvine within a 47th District, she had to reintroduce herself to roughly two-thirds of voters.
Porter, a Harvard Law School graduate who studied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the future, is best recognized around the country for her incisive questions at House oversight committee hearings. She is the vice head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a prominent progressive.
Porter declared her candidacy in a tweet on Tuesday that included a video. “California needs a warrior in the Senate – to stand up to special interests, combat the terrible imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for gaming our democracy,” Porter said.
If Feinstein were to leave office, there would probably be a heated competition for the prominent Senate seat in the state with the most people.
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Rep. Adam Schiff, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, a former longtime member of Congress, are further prospective candidates.
Sen. Feinstein has submitted papers for her reelection in 2024 with the FEC, although she has recently been under fire for her suitability for the position. In response, she told CNN last year that she felt “totally” qualified to perform the duties of her post and added, “I think that’s pretty evident.” She rejected their proposals.
