A few weeks after the March primary, Rep. Katie Porter wrote to her supporters, “While we didn’t advance out of California’s Senate primary a few weeks back, I’m not giving up our fight.”
“I’m still focused on the future of our Congress because I’ve seen how desperately we need to enact real change,” Porter said in a March 27 email, touting the work of her Truth to Power PAC. “People see how beholden politicians are to their biggest donors and special interest groups. And they don’t like the end result.”
Related: What’s next for Katie Porter? For now, it’s teaching and learning, she says
Porter’s U.S. Senate campaign concluded with her finishing third in the March primary behind new Sen. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, but the Irvine Democrat opted to stay in “the fight” this election cycle by continuing to fundraise for progressive causes and candidates, including in key battleground races in Southern California.
Her Truth to Power PAC, launched in 2020, has been a central vehicle for supporting these efforts, aiming to boost candidates aligned with her platform at both the state and national levels.
Federal Election Commission data shows that after the end of her Senate campaign, Porter’s Truth to Power PAC donated upwards of $111,000 to 24 congressional campaign committees and several joint fundraising committees associated with those candidates.
More than half of those donations supported California candidates, with about 22% directed toward campaigns in Southern California.
These figures don’t include funds raised directly into candidates’ accounts, though. Many of her PAC’s fundraising emails encouraged donors to split contributions between Truth to Power and specific campaigns through ActBlue, an online fundraising platform for Democrats.
Porter’s campaign spokesperson, Jordan Wong, said she raised just under $230,000 this year for other candidates and organizations, according to their calculations.
Some of the PAC’s beneficiaries included Reps.-elect Dave Min and Derek Tran from Orange County, who each received $7,500, and Rep.-elect Josh Riley of New York, who defeated Republican incumbent Marc Molinaro and received the largest contribution of $10,000.
The PAC provided $7,500 to Will Rollins, who lost his bid for the 41st congressional district to longtime Inland Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
Truth to Power also donated $2,000 to Joe Kerr, who ran a longshot campaign against the well-funded Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, who handily won her third term.
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-New York, who lost a comeback bid against Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, received around $9,000 from Truth to Power.
In 2022, a midterm year, FEC data shows Truth to Power PAC made direct donations to 34 candidates, totaling around $144,500.
First elected in the Blue Wave of 2018, when Orange County’s congressional delegation flipped entirely to Democrats, Porter has built a reputation for her fundraising prowess.
Over her congressional career, she has donated tens of thousands of dollars to organizations, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the California Democratic Party, Orange County Young Democrats and the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
When Porter leaves Congress in January to return to her teaching roots at UC Irvine Law, Truth to Power will still exist as a “non-connected PAC” headed by Porter, Wong said.
Porter’s sights are already set on 2026. In an email to supporters this week, she said, “The work of flipping the House in 2026 starts now,” urging donors to contribute to Truth to Power.
But even as she leaves the House, questions about her political future remain largely unanswered. While widely expected to enter the governor’s race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, Porter has yet to confirm her plans.
During an election postmortem panel held last week at UCI, Porter sidestepped direct questions about whether she plans to run for governor.
In the meantime, she appears to be staying active in California politics with the launch of a state-level political committee, Woman Up.
Wong said Woman Up, which will be partially funded by Truth to Power and will focus on supporting California candidates and organizations who will be “leading the fight to defend California” from President-elect Donald Trump’s policies while also working toward “lowering costs for families.”
However, the committee’s major focus will be on electing Democratic women candidates. Wong said the committee’s first three donations — Emerge CA, Electing Women and the California Women’s Caucus PAC — underscore that commitment.
“Woman Up hopes to help the state break through the 50% threshold for the first time,” Wong said, noting California is close to achieving gender parity in the state legislature.
