California Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter is facing renewed scrutiny after storming out of a CBS interview when pressed on how she plans to win over supporters of former President Donald Trump — a controversy that comes as new polling shows her slipping behind a leading Republican rival.
“I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it,” Porter said, trying to remove her microphone and cut off the interview after CBS News reporter Julie Watts asked how she intended to appeal to the 40% of California voters who backed Trump, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
“I don’t want this all on camera.”
Footage of the interview, recorded last month and leaked this week, shows the Democrat growing frustrated when repeatedly asked about GOP voters’ role in the 2026 governor’s race. Porter, a former congresswoman known for combative questioning during congressional hearings, accused the reporter of being “argumentative” before attempting to end the conversation.
The meltdown quickly drew criticism from rivals in both parties.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said Californians “deserve transparency” from anyone seeking the state’s top job, while former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa said the episode raised questions about Porter’s ability to “solve hard problems and answer simple questions.”
The incident comes amid troubling signs for Porter’s campaign.
A new Zogby Strategies poll shows her trailing conservative commentator Steve Hilton by six points — 29% to 23% — in a hypothetical general election matchup, with 23% of voters undecided, Newsweek reported Wednesday.
That is a sharp reversal from earlier surveys that showed Porter leading the field in the Democratic primary.
California’s gubernatorial race remains wide open ahead of the June 2026 primary, with Gov. Gavin Newsom term-limited and Vice President Kamala Harris ruling out a bid. The state has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
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