Think of a generic politician, and immediately a cataract of negative adjectives overwhelms your mind: soulless, inauthentic, transactional, etc.
All of those words (and then some) apply to former Democratic Representative and current gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter of California.
In a new 30-second ad, Porter tried to make light of her worst viral moment, but the attempt fell flat, prompting some users on the social media platform X to pan the effort as perhaps the “worst” campaign ad of all time.
“Now, could you guys please get out of my shot?” Porter joked at the end of the new ad.
A group of what looked like approximately two dozen sign-holding extras laughed at the comment.
Why did they laugh? In October of 2025, Politico obtained a video that showed Porter using profanity to berate a staffer. The incident occurred during the July 2021 taping of a webinar with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“Get out of my f***ing shot!” Porter snapped when the staffer appeared in the background and tried to offer a correction regarding something the then-congresswoman had said. “You also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot.”
In other words, Porter treated her staffer like dirt.
Moreover, that Politico video appeared one day after another video of Porter threatening to walk out of an interview with a California CBS News reporter went viral.
Together, the two videos raised serious questions about the former congresswoman’s temperament.
So, too, did domestic abuse allegations from her ex-husband, Matt Hoffman, stemming from a 2013 incident in which Porter allegedly poured hot potatoes on his head and injured him with the flying shards of a glass she smashed in anger, according to Fox News.
Apparently, she thought it a good idea to make light of her imperious behavior in a campaign ad.
But the ad reminded us of more than the candidate’s rage-filled superciliousness, for she also came across as a phony.
“I’m Katie Porter, and I’m not like most people who run for governor,” she began. “I actually get what you’re going through.”
She then characterized herself as a “single mom of three kids” who knows “what it’s like to push the shopping cart,” drives a minivan with “almost 200,000 miles,” and has “a grown kid who may soon be living on my couch.”
Full campaign ad ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/AkVNWIVKzH
— Nikki Laurenzo (@NikkiLaurenzo) May 4, 2026
Meanwhile, according to The Washington Free Beacon, as of 2022 Porter had an estimated net worth of $1.6 million. From prep school at Phillips Academy, through undergraduate studies at Yale, and finally to law school at Harvard, Porter enjoyed nearly $700,000 worth of elite education.
In short, one suspects that most voters see Porter as privileged, haughty, domineering, and dishonest. Personally, I cannot believe that a single man in California would vote for her.
Indeed, men on X had a particularly strong averse reaction to her campaign ad.
“And this … might be the worst political ad of all-time,” one man wrote. “I’d vote for Bin Laden over this woman.”
And this… might be the worst political ad of all-time
I’d vote for Bin Laden over this woman https://t.co/ifeZmHwEFl
— James T. Yoder (@JamesYoder) May 6, 2026
“I laughed so hard … this is one of the worst campaign ads I’ve ever seen,” another man wrote.
I laughed so hard… this is one of the worst campaign ads I’ve ever seen https://t.co/E76VFT0YeV
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) May 5, 2026
Judging by the polls, not many women support Porter, either.
According to the latest RealClearPolling aggregate of polls, Porter ranks fifth in California’s open gubernatorial primary, averaging only nine percent support.
Indeed, former Democratic Representative and gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell’s sexual assault scandal has not given Porter’s campaign a boost. Of course, that did not stop the former congresswoman from trying to capitalize on the scandal. It’s what soulless, transactional people do.
In short, Porter’s ad almost certainly did nothing to change the public’s overwhelmingly negative perceptions of her.
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