U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday backed California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter’s 2024 Senate run, asserting that “we need her and her whiteboard” in the upper chamber.
“I’m really excited to endorse Katie Porter to be the next senator from California,” Warren (D-Mass.) said in a video first reported by NBC News.
As Common Dreamsreported, Porter announced her Senate run on Tuesday, vowing to “fight to protect our environment, to restore the nationwide right to an abortion, and to finally hold corporate special interests accountable to lowering costs for families.”
A graduate of Harvard Law School—where she studied under Warren—and former professor, Porter is running for the seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), whose cognitive health has become an issue, and who has not said whether she will seek reelection.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), on Wednesday privately told some members of Congress she also plans to run but has not officially announced her candidacy. Reps. Adam Schiff and Ro Khanna, both California Democrats, are also believed to be prospective candidates for what’s considered a safely Democratic Senate seat.
Porter was first elected to Congress in 2018, becoming the first Democrat to represent her Orange County district since it was created in 1953.
“Katie and I met each other long before either one of us thought about elected office,” Warren explained. “Katie was my student in consumer law and she saw how giant corporations rig the rules to hurt families. Katie was determined to make a difference, and that is exactly what she’s done.”
Porter also previously served—along with then-Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)—as national co-chair of Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign.
“Katie delivers for California,” said Warren. “She’s smart and she has a backbone made out of steel. She stands up to Wall Street and Big Pharma. She holds fossil fuel companies accountable. And she fights for all our rights.”
