Democratic Rep. Katie Porter holds on to seat in tightly fought Orange County race with help from President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama, and national GOP.
Rep. Katie Porter, D-CA, a top-tier candidate who had long been considered among the odds-on favorites to win the seat, has taken a hit after The New York Times reported that a tape emerged of her using profane language. But Porter, who recently spoke at a fundraising event organized by President Donald Trump, has held on to her seat in the 5th District of California while helping to drive his White House agenda. Her Democratic opponent, Rep. Ammar Campa-Najjar, has been outspent by a large margin, so that Trump and the president-elect have outraised them by about $10 million. Campa-Najjar raised nearly $3 million over the same amount of time, and was aided by big-name Democrats, including Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and former President Ronald Reagan.
Porter was born in a town outside Phoenix a little more than 15 years ago where she graduated high school early. In 2012, she moved to Huntington Beach, where she became the editor of the local newspaper, The Huntington Beach Independent. The Independent has been a fixture since 1907. The city, which is on the edge of Orange County, is the first and only city in Orange County to win three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After Porter was elected to the House, she earned national recognition from the president-elect for leading the charge to help draft the Trump-Pence Administration’s “Keep America Great” agenda. She’s also been a strong supporter of the president-elect’s agenda – including the “Buy American” and “Fix and Strengthen Our Military” initiatives. She was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump for president and has spoken at his inauguration. Her support for Trump includes a statement she made about voting for him in 2016 saying, “Americans know Mr. Trump to be not only capable of enacting a comprehensive and aggressive agenda
