'The Whiteboard Lady' Makes Her Move

Rep. Katie Porter is making a bid for the Senate seat Dianne Feinstein will be leaving. To win, she'll have to stand out in a crowded progressive field

- By Alex J. Rouhandeh

Of the Democrats vying to succeed Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Katie Porter was first out of the gate. Porter, who represents an affluent and narrowly Democratic district south of Los Angeles, declared her candidacy early in January before the 89-year-old Feinstein officially announced her retirement and before fellow California House members Adam Schiff, 62, and Barbara Lee, 76, announced their candidacies.

Porter, 49, a former law professor and a prodigious fundraiser, has won a national profile by her sharp questioning of financial executives and government officials, and for using her trademark whiteboard to make a point. Her blunt style has also provoked clashes with her party's leadership.

Porter, Schiff and Lee all have solid progressive credentials and the race for the Democratic Senate nomination is currently a close one. A late February poll by the University of California, Berkeley, and The Los Angeles Times gave Porter 20 percent of the likely Democratic vote, just behind Schiff, who led the first Trump impeachment trial, who got 22 percent. Lee came in third with 6 percent.

Porter recently spoke with Newsweek about some of the issues she intends to campaign on and that she believes will differentiate her from her opponents. This interview has been edited for clarity.

Newsweek_ I want to start with one of your passions, banking oversight. The subject can seem pretty dry and technical for most people. How do you keep them focused on the issue?

Porter_Banking failures have terrible consequences for families, for small businesses, for communities and ultimately for our country as a global power. I've seen this firsthand in my childhood during the 1980s, during the farm crisis, growing up in Iowa.