Rep. Katie Porter of California (D) declared her campaign on Tuesday for Dianne Feinstein’s (D) open Senate seat in 2024.
Porter Intends to Run for Senate Seat
Feinstein hasn’t said for sure that she’s retiring, but the race is now looking very close. Rep. Barbara Lee, who indicated her intention to run a day after Porter’s statement, is most likely to face opposition.
Also, there is a lot of talk that Representatives Ro Khanna and Adam Schiff of California may also run.
Porter’s early statement seems designed to get out in front of the competitors in such a possibly crowded field.
Porter, an emerging progressive figure and former law student of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, may anticipate more press coverage with a Senate run, as well as the resurgence of some complaints.
Porter has faced criticism for being an awful boss who, in some reports, is also racist and nasty. Text messages leaked in December showed Porter reprimanding a staff member for giving the congresswoman COVID.
Katie Porter is accused of running a toxic office and being a bully towards staffers and making racist jokes. pic.twitter.com/hKvn6Vamtj
— Pragmatic Meghan 🇺🇸 (@PragmaticMeg) January 10, 2023
The message interaction between Porter and the staff member, Sasha Georgiades, was published by Dear White Staffers, a social media page operating on both Twitter and Instagram.
It anonymously publishes first-person accounts and rumors from Capitol Hill staffers. The publication claimed that Porter dismissed Georgiades as a result of the incident.
In return, Porter’s office issued a statement claiming Georgiades was an associate with the office and she established an exit date of August 22nd before she had violated COVID policy in July.
According to the released text messages, Congresswoman Porter informed Georgiades that she was going to have to work from home for the remaining three weeks of her program.
Others joined the Dear White Staffers account after the original text messages were made public and tweeted their own anonymous criticisms of Porter. There is no evidence to support their claims.
According to one post, she was inclined to become very angry and frequently disparaged the personnel. Others said she drastically exaggerated expectations of her staff. She was accused of uttering racist remarks in one communication.
The same lady who just last week was accused of a toxic work culture? That Katie Porter? https://t.co/eW4eSWWZyC https://t.co/3n2wowSch7
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) January 10, 2023
Some of the messages given to Dear White Staffers have been contested by some former employees. Georgiades was a part of the exact program that Porter’s first Wounded Warrior partner departed under contentious circumstances, according to one DMer.
In a conversation with National Review, that ex-fellow, Gage Sitzmann, refuted that accusation.
Porter Accused of Racism
Jordan Wong, Porter’s communications director, stated in an email that Porter never displayed any sign of racism and is not abusive towards her staff. He included a link to Women Rule where Porter discusses her handling of employees.
In a conversation with Pod Save America published on Thursday, Porter responded to a question regarding these allegations by saying she regrets if this individual is dissatisfied.
This article appeared in Conservative Cardinal and has been published here with permission.
