Fellow Democrats are excoriating Rep. Katie Porter for saying her opponents, including rival Rep. Adam Schiff, sought to “rig” California’s Senate primary — language that echoes former President Donald Trump’s election denialism.
Porter finished a distant third in the Super Tuesday contest behind Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey. The swift reaction to her social media outburstunderscores how California’s enormously expensive Senate race — for a likely safe Democratic seat — has left lingering bruises. It also raises warnings for Democrats tempted to use rhetoric they’ve condemned as undermining public trust in the nation’s elections.
Porter’s claim spurred an indirect rebuke from Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who wrote that California’s vote was “not rigged.” And Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who formerly oversaw California voting as the state’s top elections official, called the notion “ridiculous” without naming Porter.
“It’s not rigged,” Padilla told POLITICO. “As the former secretary of state of California, I can assure you of the integrity of the elections and the results.”
Porter failed to advance beyond the primary after Schiff and a pro-Schiff Super PAC spent millions to buoy Garvey, a former baseball star and first-time political candidate who ran a lackluster campaign. The legal and well-established tactic under California’s top-two primary system nevertheless fueled criticism of Schiff backing a Republican to smooth his path to victory in November.
Porter had already assailed that “brazenly cynical” approach, and she lashed out again on Wednesday in an X post blaming her loss on “billionaires spending millions to rig this election.” She doubled down with a Thursday post saying the vote had been “manipulated by dishonest means.”
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