Villaraigosa, Antonio

The former congresswoman is the most prominent candidate so far to start a campaign in the 2026 contest. But the race could be upended if former Vice President Kamala Harris decides to run.Katie Porter, the former Democratic congresswoman who rose to prominence by wielding a whiteboard while she grilled corporate executives on Capitol Hill, announced on Tuesday that she would enter the 2026 contest for California governor.Ms. Porter, 51, is the highest-profile Democrat to join the race. But a huge unknown remains: whether former Vice President Kamala Harris will jump in.Gov. Gavin Newsom cannot run for re-election because state law limits governors to two terms. Most of the Democrats who have entered the open race so far are current or former state officials who have experience in the statehouse but are little known to the public. Voters are much more familiar with Ms. Porter, a law professor who served six years in Congress representing Orange County, polls show.Ms. Porter announced her campaign on Tuesday by releasing a video that cast herself as someone who would fight to counter President Trump’s agenda and bring a fresh lens to the State Capitol, where she has never served in an elected office.After losing the presidential election in November, Ms. Harris returned home to Los Angeles and has contemplated a run for California governor. Ms. Porter will drop out of the race if Ms. Harris runs, a spokesman confirmed.Ms. Porter observed in December that Ms. Harris would have “a near field-clearing effect on the Democratic side” of the race.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More