Katie Porter, the leading candidate in the race to be California’s next governor, is facing scrutiny over her behavior during a recent CBS News Sacramento interview.
Reporter Julie Watts asked Porter — a Democrat and former Congresswoman from Orange County — what she would say to the 40% of Californians who voted for Donald Trump. Watts suggested Porter might need some of those votes to win if she hopes to become the state’s next governor. Porter pushed back, saying she would not need them and appeared visibly frustrated before she threatened to end the interview.
The exchange quickly circulated online and prompted criticism from both Democrats and Republicans who questioned her temperament and ability to answer basic questions. News outlets, like POLITICO, resurfaced old videos of Porter yelling at her congressional staff. Former state controller Betty Yee, the only other woman candidate, even called Porter “a weak, self-destructive candidate unfit to lead California,” in a social media post.
But Meredith Conroy, a gender and politics expert with the Geena Davis Institute, said much of the coverage has overlooked an important detail: Porter did ultimately answer the question.
In her response, Porter said she would work to build support from Republicans. She noted she represented a purple district in Orange County where she earned votes from both parties. Conroy said Porter’s frustration seemed directed not at the question itself, but at the implication that she needed Trump voters to win.
“She does end up answering the question and the narrative about this exchange doesn’t mention that,” she said. “It’s a story of a woman who can’t handle difficult questions, and this video squares with that.”
Conroy added that male politicians don’t often face as harsh a reaction for similar behavior. For example, Governor Gavin Newsom once walked out of an interview when he was mayor of San Francisco.
“Off the record, I’m amazingly disappointed. Amazingly, I just am, personally, you know,” Newsom said to the reporter while leaving the room.
“When you have Gavin Newsom having an uncomfortable exchange with a journalist or Donald Trump literally yelling at journalists from the podium, that’s consistent with leadership and what it means to be a man,” Conroy said. “When a woman is aggressive, people struggle with that because they’re like, ‘Okay, but that’s not what women should be doing.’ So that’s the double bind.”
Scrutiny could discourage more women from running
California is one of 18 states that haven’t had a woman governor, and only a handful of states have had more than one. Conroy said the scrutiny Porter is facing can discourage women from running for office in the future.
“My research does show that women historically do receive more scrutiny when they run for office,” she said. “The anticipation of scrutiny is a reason that women are less likely to run. So when you see women running for governor in the biggest state in the country, to see that would absolutely discourage women from running.”
She added how the media portrays women in politics can have a “role model effect,” influencing how younger women view leadership and political participation.
Political fallout
Kim Nalder, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, said the incident could be especially damaging at this stage of Porter’s campaign when most voters are still learning who she is.
“She’s had quite a lot of visibility for a member of Congress, but that doesn’t mean that most Californians know who she is already,” Nalder said. “And if one of the first impressions they get when they start to pay attention to the gubernatorial race is that she has a tough time when she’s under pressure, that doesn’t help a young campaign for sure.”
But Nalder also noted that the standards for what can derail a political campaign have shifted dramatically in recent years, especially now.
“The goalposts have shifted so dramatically in the Trump era for what can derail a politician’s career or their campaign,” she said. “Trump has walked out on tons of interviews and he says prickly, harsh things constantly and it seems like there are very few consequences for him. Women don’t tend to get as much of a pass on things like that.”
And while some voters might view Porter’s assertive reaction as consistent with her reputation for grilling powerful figures in congressional hearings, Nalder thinks her being seemingly unable to answer a simple question does not align with that brand.
“When I watched the actual clip, it didn’t seem like she was reacting in a proportionate way to the questioning,” she said. “It would be one thing if there was something outrageous coming out of the reporter’s mouth, but it really wasn’t.”
Nalder said how much this ultimately hurts Porter will depend largely on how news outlets and social media frame the story.
CapRadio reached out to Porter’s campaign for a statement but did not hear back.
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