Dem Katie Porter makes surprising announcement about political future

Former Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., appears to be retiring from politics, telling the Sacramento Bee that it's unlikely she runs for office again after a series of failed bids for national positions.

Porter, fresh off a fifth-place finish in the California governor's race, told the Bee "I am closing the door on being a candidate," in a Friday interview with the outlet.

"I cannot foresee that path back," she added.

Porter, who left her Congressional seat to run for the Senate seat vacated by the late Dianne Feinstein in 2023, also lost that race, garnering over 1 million votes, but still falling short of the top two candidates, Steve Garvey and eventual winner Sen. Adam Schiff.

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Both campaigns for the high-profile national offices were marred by personal scandals and public backlash to reports of Porter's private behavior.

In 2023, while running for Senate, Porter responded to claims that she abused members of her staff, including during one alleged incident in which she chastised a staffer for catching COVID-19.

The texts between Porter and her staff member showed Porter saying "you gave me COVID" and that Porter's "children have nobody to care for them."

Porter denied firing the staffer for the incident and said, "I regret if this employee feels disgruntled."

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Allegations of toxic behavior were renewed when a leaked video revealed Porter screaming and cursing at another staffer during her gubernatorial campaign in 2025.

"GET OUT OF MY F---ING SHOT" Porter screamed in the now-viral clip.

Porter has also come under fire for the bizarre way she abruptly ended a video interview with a local reporter.

The mounting scandals appeared to affect her electability.

Finishing a respectable third behind Garvey and Schiff in the 2024 non-partisan "jungle primary" for the state's Senate seat, Porter garnered 1.27 million votes from Californians, good for 17.2% of the electorate, according to California's secretary of state.

But in 2025, Porter finished fifth, receiving only 403,908 votes, representing only 4.4% of the electorate, according to the California secretary of state's certified election results.

She told the Sacramento Bee she would be focusing on making social media posts about books going forward.

Fox News Digital contacted Porter for comment.