Though Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) no doubt hoped she could make it past California’s Senate primary and on into the general election campaign season with her storied whiteboard in hand, it was not meant to be.
Porter, as we reported, earlier, went down in defeat in the so-called “jungle primary” Tuesday, coming in a distant third behind first-place finisher, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and the Republican second-place finisher, MLB legend Steve Garvey.
READ: Katie Porter Makes Disqualifying Statements on SCOTUS, Staff Abuse Allegations
Though there may be some legitimate reasons why someone would not want to concede gracefully, it’s generally considered good form in most instances to bite your tongue and wish the winner well so you don’t come off as a sore loser.
But that is not what Porter did Tuesday night after it was clear she would not be victorious.
Instead, Porter, who seemed to be in disbelief, took to the microphone to accuse Schiff and Garvey of allegedly using “every trick in the book” including the millions of dollars spent in the race to “knock us off our feet.”
“While the votes are still coming in, we know that tonight we’ll come up short,” Porter admitted. “Our opponents threw everything – every trick, millions of dollars, every trick in the playbook – to knock us off our feet. But I’m still standing in high heels.”
“Because of you, we have the establishment running scared,” she also said, without evidence, while also displaying a faux humility as she thanked her supporters.
Watch:
Katie Porter: Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey used “every trick in the playbook” to win tonight’s California primary. pic.twitter.com/27M0Rslq1q
— POLITICO (@politico) March 6, 2024
Porter was so bitter about Adam Schiff outfoxing her by boosting Garvey in the primary that she brushed off questions from reporters, telling them she wanted to talk to “human beings”:
Rep. Katie Porter to me when I said I wanted to ask her a question: “I’m not doing reporters, I’m doing human beings.”
— Nikki Schwab (@NikkiSchwab) March 6, 2024
Porter came in third in tonight’s California Senate jungle primary – meaning she won’t advance to the November election. pic.twitter.com/AzrCCMLiGE
Rep. Porter’s speech reminded me of that of another Democrat primary sore loser, former longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who bizarrely blamed “sexism and misogyny” for her 2022 primary loss to Rep. Jerry Nadler even though she had been reelected multiple times over the course of three decades.
But back to Porter, nearly 24 hours after she got the bad news, she was still huffy, taking to the Twitter machine to allege that the primary was “rigged” by “billionaires” – but that she would still “be fighting for you.” Left out of her rant was how she had her own substantial war chest, raising $28 million to Adam Schiff’s $33 million:
Because of you, we had the establishment running scared — withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election.
[…]
Special interests like politics as it is today because they control the politicians. As we’ve seen in this campaign, they spend millions to defeat someone who will dilute their influence and disrupt the status quo.
But take my word for it: I’ll never stop fighting for you.
Sadly for the Very Online Katie Porter, that fighting in those high heels will soon have to be done outside the halls of Congress considering she had to give up her House seat to run for Senate, something GOP GOTV guru Scott Presler reminded her of in response to her Twitter thread:
Thank you very much for giving up your congressional seat & providing an opportunity for Republicans to flip it from 🔵🔜🔴.
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) March 7, 2024
Don’t go away mad, Katie Porter. Just… go away.
