In her first public comments since two viral videos surfaced last week showing her berating a staff member and belittling a news reporter, Katie Porter owned up to her missteps on Tuesday and said she was working to hold herself to a higher standard of conduct.
Ms. Porter, a former Democratic congresswoman, has been the early front-runner in next year’s race for California governor. But the videos cracked open a new phase by spurring opponents to go on the attack and intensifying the feeling among some Democrats that the party needed to find another candidate to be its standard-bearer.
On Tuesday, Ms. Porter was interviewed for the television show “Inside California Politics,” and she later appeared on a Zoom call organized by the Working Families Party, a progressive group that both endorses liberal Democrats and runs its own candidates.
“I absolutely understand that I could have been better in those moments,” Ms. Porter told activists and voters on the Zoom call. “I’m going to hold myself to that standard, to do better and to acknowledge that I fell short.”
Last week, the CBS affiliate in Sacramento posted a video in which Ms. Porter laughed at a reporter’s question about her message to Republican voters and threatened to walk out on the interview. A day later, Politico posted a 2021 video in which she was seen cursing at an aide who interrupted her recording to correct what she was saying.
“What I did to that staffer was wrong,” Ms. Porter said in the “Inside California Politics” interview. “I’ve acknowledged it to her in that moment, and I’m acknowledging it now.”
“I think people who know me know I can be tough,” she added, “but I need to do a better job expressing appreciation for the amazing work that my team does.”
Detractors and rivals seized on the videos as a sign that Ms. Porter was not fit to lead the nation’s most populous state. But some of Ms. Porter’s allies have defended her as someone who can be brutally honest, and others have suggested that the criticism was sexist because they said men would not have been rebuked for the same actions.
Ms. Porter is aiming to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run for re-election because of term limits. She is one of several candidates running in an open primary in June 2026. Though Ms. Porter has been ahead in the polls so far, many voters remain undecided and additional candidates may still enter the race.
Powerful insiders are trying to draft Senator Alex Padilla, a fellow Democrat, to run for governor. And on Tuesday, Tom Steyer, the Democratic billionaire who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, fueled speculation that he may jump into the 2026 governor’s race when he released a new campaign ad for Mr. Newsom’s redistricting measure in which he spoke directly to the camera.
On “Inside California Politics,” Nikki Laurenzo, the show’s host, asked Ms. Porter if she had the temperament to be governor and pressed her on whether any other concerning videos would surface.
Ms. Porter did not directly answer the question.
“I can tell you what I’ve told you, which is that I am taking responsibility for this situation, and I’m also not going to back down from fighting back for California, from being tough.”
She vowed to move forward with her campaign and said she had spent the day talking with local Democratic groups and labor unions.
Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.
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