The controversy stems from two viral moments. Nearly 30 former staffers are backing Katie porter as viral clips of her heated moments continue to dog her campaign for California governor.
The ex-employees from her congressional office and past campaigns brushed off the footage as misleading in a letter sent to the Southern California News Group Monday.
“The traits that make Katie effective don’t always look soft around the edges,” they wrote to The Orange County Register, calling the videos “a caricature built from a few clips on a bad day” and not the leader who “shows up for her team.”
The show of support comes just weeks before ballots go out in a wide-open race with no clear Democratic frontrunner.
Porter is polling near the top of the Democratic pack alongside billionaire Tom Steyer and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The field shifted after Eric Swalwell dropped out amid sexual assault allegations he denies.
Still, Republicans Chad Bianco, the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator, and Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, have consistently led polls, sparking fears Democrats could be shut out of the general election entirely.
A recent California Democratic Party survey put Hilton and Bianco ahead, followed by Becerra, Steyer and Porter.
In October, Ported clashed with CBS reporter Julie Watts, growing visibly frustrated over questions about winning over Donald Trump supporters and at one point threatening to end the interview.
Another clip, from 2021 and released by Politico, shows Porter berating a staffer who interrupted a recording about electric vehicles and appeared on camera.
Porter later admitted to Nexstar media group she “could have handled things better.”
Her former aides didn’t deny her tough style, calling her standards “among the highest” they’d seen, but said that’s why they signed on.
“But that’s one reason we chose to work for her,” they wrote. “A few video clips of our worst moments are not the full or honest measure of Katie or anyone’s career.”
The letter was organized by former chief of staff Jordan Wood, now a congressional candidate in Maine, according to the Washington Post.
The staffer seen in the Politico video did not sign.
Scrutiny over Porter’s workplace culture isn’t new.
The Washington Post reported her office had higher-than-average turnover in most years, with 119 staffers cycling through, far more than those defending her now.
Porter served three terms representing Orange County and lost a 2024 Senate bid.
