SACRAMENTO BEE & MCCLATCHY CALIFORNIA ENDORSES KATIE PORTER FOR GOVERNOR

May 4, 2026

Editorial Board Representing Five Major Newspapers Across California Agree Katie is the Strongest Candidate to Lead California

“She has the singular ability to uplift Californians struggling with how expensive and exclusive this state has become… She clearly grasps the issues that everyday Californians face because she lives them herself as a single mother of three.”

“She is a smart, driven candidate who would take on President Donald Trump, push back on federal incursions, and address the state’s triple, intersectional crises of affordability, homelessness and housing.”

IRVINE—McClatchy Media’s California Editorial Board, which includes columnists and editors from The Sacramento Bee, The Modesto Bee, The Fresno Bee, Merced Sun-Star and the San Luis Obispo Tribune, today endorsed Katie Porter to be California’s next Governor.

The editorial board, which met with all of the Democratic candidates and Republican Steve Hilton, called Porter “by far the most impressive,” writing Katie “has the intellect, the understanding of the issues, the ability to communicate, see the big picture, and the boldness to fight the monied interests who need to be fought. She has the singular ability to uplift Californians struggling with how expensive and exclusive this state has become.”

Read what McClatchy Media’s California Editorial Board wrote about Katie:

“Our board believes that Porter has the intellect, the understanding of the issues, the ability to communicate, see the big picture, and the boldness to fight the monied interests who need to be fought. She has the singular ability to uplift Californians struggling with how expensive and exclusive this state has become.

We also believe that it is time that California elects its first woman governor, after nearly 180 years of electing men.”

“She clearly grasps the issues that everyday Californians face because she lives them herself as a single mother of three. She can speak knowingly of the “kitchen table economics” that other candidates can only read about from cue cards.”

“Porter’s campaign promise to eliminate the state income tax for Californians making under $100,000 is a necessary step toward both equality and equity; that alone ought to be a seriously persuasive argument in favor of her candidacy.

“She would also push for legislation that lowers housing costs by stopping local delays, innovating construction techniques and making state investments in affordable housing by contributing land and infrastructure. By these means, our state might finally begin to chip away at the roughly 2.5 million new homes we must build over the next eight years to meet market demand.”

“She has also steadfastly refused to accept donations from corporate political action committees (PACs), federal lobbyists or executives from the banking, pharmaceutical or oil and gas industries. The insidious role of big money in the governor’s race — and every race across the country — is crippling our democracy.

“We like and respect Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general who is also in the race, but his acceptance of money from gas giant Chevron, for example, is disappointing in the extreme.

“Porter’s distance from monied interests in California has undoubtedly cost her support she might have had by now if she played the same money game Becerra is.”

“Porter, who suffers only from the same, tired charge levied against every woman in politics — that she can be unlikable — is the right choice for this fraught moment. Her promise to push big money out of politics, and her base of support that comes mainly from small donors is the right path forward for all politics in this nation, not just in California.

Read the full endorsement column HERE.

The McClatchy Media California Editorial Board endorsement builds on Porter’s growing momentum as the leading Democrat in the race for California Governor. McClatchy joins Katie’s broad coalition that includes elected officials like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Dave Min (CA-47), Derek Tran (CA-45), Robert Garcia (CA-42), and Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (AD-73). Katie has already earned the support of the most organized labor unions in this race, including UNAC/UHCP, Orange County Employees Association, IBEW Local 441, National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), Teamsters California, United Auto Workers (UAW), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), and Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transit Workers Union (SMART). Other major groups like EMILYs List, Elect Democratic Women, Women’s Political Committee, Fund Her, California Women’s List, and Vote Mama PAC are backing Porter as well.

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