Katie Porter Flipped a Red District,Thanks in Part to Her Mentors Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren

[WeekiWater]

Katie Porter's story is the kind you hope to see in a groundbreaking midterm season. A first-time Democratic candidate runs in a historically red district. She refuses to take money from corporate PACs, and she's supported by her mentors, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris. EMILY's List picks her as the first congressional candidate they endorse that year. And then she does it—she wins. Porter, who's a law professor at U.C. Irvine and a consumer protection attorney, was responsible for flipping her Orange County, California district to blue, securing her seat in Congress and helping Democrats take back the House. Ahead, Porter, who ran her campaign while also working and raising three kids, explains why she took on the challenge in the first place.

Elle

[sandensea]

1. I lived in that district some years ago. What a difference a decade makes.

Having a Democrat represent that area was almost unthinkable. Most voters were of the "I'll be damned if I have to pay a penny more in taxes, or have a third-world type as my neighbor!" variety.

Then the Bush debacle came. Almost everyone lost hundreds of thousands (mostly in home equity; but also in stocks, etc); some of course lost it all.

I think that was the start of the shift of middle/upper-middle class White and Asian O.C. voters toward Democrats. People don't soon forget calamities like Southern California's in '08.

[Power 2 the People]

2. Extraordinary women.

Bravo!

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Craft a honest message and stick with it.

And if you do not put boots on the ground in that District and talk to the people who live in that district. Your chances of winning it have no bounds. It works,we did in Nevada 4 th.