Rep. Katie Porter said she regrets accusing special interests of spending money to “rig” California’s Senate race after she lost in the state's primary — a comment that ignited widespread criticism from Democrats and progressives.
“Obviously, I wish I had chosen a different word,” Porter said in a Pod Save America interview released on Tuesday.
After placing a distant third in the primary to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Porter lamented the “onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election” in an X post and then doubled down in a follow-up statement.
Porter swiftly faced pushback for echoing the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly and baselessly claimed California all-mail election process is illegitimate. Porter said in the podcast interview that the backlash undermined the “important truth” that California’s elections have been handled well.
“Our California election officials do a terrific job,” Porter said, adding the state “should be a model for a lot of the country.”
But Porter reiterated her larger critique that money is warping politics, a central tenet of her failed Senate campaign. The cryptocurrency industry and Rep. Adam Schiff’s allies spent millions of dollars to suppress her vote share and prop up Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey, who is overwhelmingly likely to lose to Schiff in November.
“Big money does influence our elections,” Porter said. “Outcomes are manipulated and distorted when you have people coming in spending millions and millions of dollars at the last minute.”
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