'I don't want this all on camera,' Katie Porter says

Gubernatorial hopeful tells a reporter she doesn't need Trump voters' support.

- BY SEEMA МЕНТА

FORMER Rep. Katie Porter speaks at a California gubernatorial candidates forum in Los Angeles on Sept. 28.

(CARLIN STIEHL Los Angeles Times)

Former Rep. Katie Porter, the 2026 gubernatorial candidate who has a narrow edge in the polls, raised eyebrows Tuesday when a recording emerged of her suggesting ending a television interview after becoming irritated by a reporter's questions.

The recording shows CBS Sacramento reporter Julie Watts asking Porter, a Democrat, what she would say to the nearly 6.1 million Californians who voted for President Trump in 2024, and the UC Irvine law professor responding that she didn't need their support if she competed against a Republican in the November 2026 runoff election to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.

After Porter highlighted her experience winning a closely divided Orange County congressional district, she grew palpably irritated by Watts' followup questions on her dismissiveness about needing support from voters who supported Trump.

"I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?" Porter said.

Watts, a correspondent for CBS News California Investigates, responded that she had asked every other candidate similar questions in relation to Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure that Newsom and other California Democrats put on the ballot in a special election for November.