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Dozens of former Katie Porter staffers pen open letter defending her, months after backlash

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by Ashleigh Fields - 04/21/26 4:32 PM ET

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by Ashleigh Fields - 04/21/26 4:32 PM ET

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A group of 30 former staffers for former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) signed a Monday letter lauding the lawmaker as someone who “shows up for her team” after months of backlash for lambasting a staffer and a journalist on two separate occasions.

The letter comes as Porter looks to ramp up her gubernatorial campaign, following former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) and former California State Controller Betty Yee’s decisions to drop out of the race.

“The traits that make Katie effective don’t always look soft around the edges. People are drawn to Katie’s leadership because she is a workhorse. She asked of us what she expected of herself,” staffers wrote in their letter about Porter.

“We have worked for other members of Congress, senior military leaders, executive branch officials, and in demanding private-sector roles. Without hesitation, Katie’s standards were among the highest,” they added.

The former staffer who Porter told to get out of her “f—— shot” during a 2021 interview with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm did not sign the letter.

At the time, the staffer was making Porter aware of a needed correction to her study she’d cited in regard to air pollution from non-electric cars.

“I wanted to tell you that that’s actually incorrect. It’s not that it’s electric vehicles. It’s that, if we don’t meet the commitments under the Paris Climate Accord,” the staffer told Porter.

“OK, it doesn’t — OK. You also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot,” Porter told her staffer, before pivoting back to Granholm. “OK, I’m going to start again with electric vehicles saving us money.”

Porter’s former chief of staff Jordan Wood said the comments were made at the “height of the pandemic” when Porter was under a lot of stress, The Washington Post reported.

Porter later said she “could have handled things better” but the video has weighed on her campaign.

The gubernatorial candidate has 10 percent of voter support at the polls, despite Swalwell’s departure from the race, per the Post.

Wood, who is running for Congress in Maine, organized the letter from former staffers.

“We know that Katie got into politics and policy for many of the same reasons we did: to reform broken systems, serve people, and accomplish big things,” the letter says.

“A few video clips of our worst moments are not the full or honest measure of Katie or anyone’s career. That’s the truth,” it continues.

Republican and Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who President Trump has backed, is leading in the governor’s race followed by Democrat Tom Steyer and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, according to a Decision Desk HQ primary poll.

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