Does Katie Porter’s Whiteboard Stand A Chance Against Adam Schiff’s Pencil Neck?
Or 'Why I’m Getting So Many Emails About That California Senate Race.'
House Rep. Katie Porter keeps sending me increasingly desperate emails. Lately, they’ve focused on how much of a big, manipulative creep her congressional colleague Adam Schiff is. Yes, Porter and Schiff are both Democrats, but they’re in a fiercely contested battle for California’s open Senate seat. Whoever wins can probably keep the seat until they die, like the late Dianne Feinstein, or just decide the Senate is a giant waste of time, like current Sen. Laphonza Butler.
Wednesday, Porter’s campaign asked in an email, “Why is Adam Schiff boosting a Republican? 🤔” (If I were a California resident, the emoji might’ve cost her my vote.)
Porter shares The Nation article, “Adam Schiff’s ‘Brazenly Cynical’ Campaign Strategy Boosts a Republican.” Schiff, the consistent frontrunner, has started running ads that contrast his own liberal record against whatever Republican Steve Garvey will admit he believes. This isn’t an instance of Schiff prematurely targeting the general election. California has an open primary system, so the top two vote getters on March 5 — regardless of party — will advance to the November 5 election. Former Los Angeles Dodger and “family values” paragon Garvey isn’t a strong competitor. He raised just $610,920 in the last quarter of 2023, mostly from retired Southern California businessmen and maybe a paper route. Schiff brought in $6.2 million over the same period, and Porter raised $3 million. Garvey probably couldn’t afford to run ads on a Fresno cable access channel, so Schiff is actually helping raise his profile.
Another email sounded alarms that a recent University of Southern California poll had Porter and Garvey tied for second place with 15 percent of the vote. If Garvey nudges out Porter, then Schiff will easily coast to victory in November. I’m not sure I agree with Porter and The Nation that this strategy is “cynical.” It’s obviously the smart move for Schiff. As Lex Luthor said on Smallville, “There’s a reason they call it a race and not a political potluck.” However, I did just quote Lex Luthor so maybe it is a little cynical.
Dirty tricks or a clean victory?
“We’ve seen this show before,” Porter’s email claims. “Boosting another candidate is a trick politicians use to get an opponent they have the best chance of defeating.”
It’s also a gambit Democrats played to some success in the 2022 midterms. They spent almost $19 million in primaries across eight states propping up far-right MAGA kooks and election deniers. It’s less risky with Garvey, though, because it’s highly unlikely any Republican beats a Democrat in California during a presidential election.
“Adam Schiff knows he will lose to me in November,” Porter posted on social media. “That’s what this brazenly cynical ad is about — furthering his own political career, boxing out qualified Democratic women candidates, and boosting a Republican candidate to do it. We need honest leadership, not political games.”
The Nation and Porter seem to think that Schiff would struggle against her in a head-to-head match. I’m glad Porter believes in herself — self-esteem is “how you get it done,” but she makes those claims in emails where she also admits that Schiff is beating her senseless in fundraising and ad buys.
Here’s one from February 5:
There are whole counties we aren’t able to run ads in because we just don’t have enough in the bank. And even in the areas where we’re both running ads, voters are seeing more of Adam than they are of Katie.
It’s unclear how Porter’s situation is supposed to improve even if she does advance to the general election. The other major Democrat in the race, Rep. Barbara Lee, has been polling in single digits. Even with Lee’s entire current support, Porter would still lag behind Schiff.
The Nation suggests that “Porter and Lee have been hoping for a second-place finish that would set up a centrist Democrat-versus-progressive Democrat competition in the fall.” Recent history would argue that this isn’t much of a competition. Fox News might consistently paint California as some progressive la-la land, but that’s not reality. Feinstein herself was a centrist, and while many California Democrats believed the state had grown more liberal than its senior senator, the state still elects mainstream Democrats such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla. Vice President Kamala Harris, when she was California’s attorney general, was known to have a moderate, pragmatic approach to business interests. Porter, however, has built a reputation for grilling CEOs during congressional hearings. With the primary less than a month away and voting already begun, a pro-Porter super PAC has released a spot billing their candidate as a politician who holds “corporate interests accountable.”
Not-So-Friendly Fire …
There’s an argument that Schiff’s strategy is best for the party longterm. The November election needs to be about President Joe Biden and Democrats against Donald Trump and MAGA, with every Republican on the ballot tied directly to former President Klan Robe. A “centrist” versus “progressive” Democratic candidate smackdown seems needlessly distracting and a little too 2016. It would also cost a fortune that Democrats could spend anywhere elsewhere, particularly on races that might actually determine which party controls the House and Senate.
Despite the apparent ideological framing of the race, Schiff and Porter don’t differ that much on the issues that matter. They’ve each voted consistently in line with Biden’s agenda, and there’s no evidence that either will have a sudden Kyrsten Sinema heel turn if elected to the Senate. They both support abortion rights and oppose the filibuster.
Schiff is guaranteed a slot on the November ballot, but Porter is obviously in a more defensive position. This has tilted her campaign more toward the negative, hitting Schiff on his campaign tactics and how he raises money (although her own record in that area is hardly pristine). According to a NPR poll this week, Democratic voters rank “preserving democracy” as the issue that most concerns them in 2024. That might suggest a bigger picture view that precludes months of squabbling over what is ultimately a safely Democratic Senate seat.
Porter’s attacks appear to have backfired on her. Former Sen. Barbara Boxer had pledged to remain neutral in the race, but she’s now officially endorsing Schiff.
“There’s been more than one attack by Katie Porter on Adam Schiff,” Boxer said. “The first one was during the debate, she accused him of taking dirty money. Adam is playing by the rules of the game. Katie Porter, if she doesn’t take PAC money, that’s fine. But don’t go after a fellow Democrat after you’ve taken his money in the past for your House race and say he’s taking dirty money.”
Boxer was also personally offended that Porter accused Schiff of “boxing out qualified Democratic women candidates.” She positively gushed over Schiff in his defense.
“And now saying that he’s against women when Adam Schiff has been, what we call as women in politics, Sir Galahad. He’s a Sir Galahad. That’s why Nancy Pelosi endorsed him. He’s a great guy and he’s been side by side with us every step of the way. So yes, this has pushed me over the line.”
Former Speaker Pelosi endorsed Schiff a few weeks after Porter announced her candidacy, and most of the California Democratic political establishment soon followed. As Porter has mentioned in more than a few emails, if she loses the Senate race, she’s out of Congress entirely, as she had to give up her House seat to run. Her district isn’t easy for a Democrat to win, and just 9,000 votes separated Porter from her Republican opponent in 2022. A Senate seat in California is much safer and doesn’t open up very often. She might’ve thought this was her best shot, but it’s looking bleak — not just for Porter’s own career but for Democrats’ chances in her House district.
[KTLA / The Nation]
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Schiff is smart not to trash other Democrats. To me, he has more and better experience to be a Senator at this stage, and Porter's whiny antics are confirming that.
I like both Schiff and Porter, they each have their respective strengths. It’s too bad that Porter gave up her seat to run because I suspect Schiff will win and not having Porter and her awesome whiteboard holding people’s feet to the fire will be sorely missed.