Politics
NEW: Republican Leads California Gubernatorial Race After Top Democrat’s Public Meltdown
Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter’s campaign for California governor is taking a hit — and it’s her own temper that’s doing the damage.
A new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released Friday shows Porter’s support slipping after her fiery October exchange with a TV reporter — a meltdown her rivals seized on to paint her as volatile and unfit to lead.
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Once the clear front-runner, the Democrat now trails Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the poll shows. But the race remains wide open, as nearly half of California voters still have not picked a candidate.
“She’s the leading Democrat among the various ones that are in there right now,” said poll director Mark DiCamillo. “But it’s because nobody really on the Democratic side has really jumped out of the pack. It’s kind of a political vacuum at the moment.”
The contest was largely on ice for much of the year as Californians waited to see if former Vice President Kamala Harris would throw her hat in the ring, until Porter’s public meltdown made waves. Then came a bruising special election over congressional redistricting that became a proxy war over President Trump’s influence, overshadowing everything else in the state.
Now that the dust has settled, DiCamillo says it’s “the time for someone to break through.”
But that “someone” won’t be Sen. Alex Padilla. The Los Angeles Democrat — who held the highest favorability rating among the potential field — took himself out of the running this week.
Bianco now leads the pack with 13% support, followed by Porter at 11%. Back in August, Porter topped the list at 17%, with Bianco at 10%.
“It is abundantly clear that Californians are demanding a new path forward,” said Bianco’s campaign manager, Erica Melendrez. “Sheriff Bianco represents a safe California, an affordable California, an educated California and a leader with integrity and character that ALL Californians can be proud of.”
DiCamillo noted that Porter’s six-point drop over three months was meaningful in a tight race, though he cautioned that it’s still early in the 2026 campaign. Porter’s camp declined to address the slump, saying only that she remains the top Democrat in the field.
