Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) advanced to the runoff in November in her bid for a second term after California held its all-party primary on Tuesday.
The Associated Press projected that Porter would advance to the runoff after 9 p.m. local time on the West Coast. Several Republicans were battling for the other runoff spot in the state’s top-two primary system.
Porter, a rising star among progressives, is running for reelection in an Orange County-area swing district where Republicans still outnumber Democrats in voter registration.
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She became the first Democrat to represent the district after her election in 2018. Porter has since drawn attention for her aggressive questioning of corporate executives and Trump administration officials from her seat on the House Financial Services Committee.
Porter remains the only Democrat in a competitive district to have endorsed Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (D-Mass.) in the Democratic presidential primary. Porter was Warren’s student at Harvard Law School and is now a co-chairwoman of her presidential campaign.
Before Porter’s election, the swing district had been represented by Republicans in the House but had swung between the two parties in the last three presidential elections. Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE carried the suburban district in 2016, making it a top target for Democrats in the midterm elections two years later.
The Cook Political Report currently rates the race as “lean Democratic.”