Another Big Name Enters Governor's Race

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, March 12, 2025…

• There’s a growing field of candidates looking to replace Gavin Newsom as governor. The latest high-profile entry is former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter, who officially entered the race on Tuesday.
• California law lets landlords evict tenants for nonpayment – even if tenants can prove they can pay off their overdue rent. A bill before the state Legislature could change that. 

Porter Enters Crowded Field For Governor As Kamala Harris Weighs Run

Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter launched her bid for California governor on Tuesday, hoping a promise of “fresh blood and new ideas” will help her overcome challenges that plagued her U.S. Senate campaign last year.

The 2026 field is already crowded with Democratic hopefuls, including former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former State Controller Betty Yee.

Porter carries clear advantages into the race. She has a defined image, forged through a hard-fought win for the Orange County seat in 2018. In Congress, she exhibited a penchant for grilling high-profile witnesses, such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield in hearings on Capitol Hill.

And Porter has demonstrated the ability to raise the enormous sums needed for a statewide campaign. In her Senate run, Porter faced challenges from the state’s political establishment and a political climate that didn’t align with her campaign’s focus. Porter’s bid for governor could depend on whether former Vice President Kamala Harris decides to run for the state’s top job.

They Tried To Pay Their Overdue Rent. Their Landlord Wouldn’t Accept It

California law allows landlords to evict tenants for nonpayment regardless of whether they are willing and able to pay their overdue rent. Tenant advocates say that undercuts the effectiveness of rental assistance programs, a key strategy local governments and nonprofits use to keep people housed. They’re pushing a proposal in the Legislature that would bring California in line with 21 other states that ban nonpayment evictions for tenants willing and able to pay up.

The California Apartment Association, which represents landlords, says the legislation is unnecessary because tenants can already delay evictions if they’re facing financial hardship, and has dubbed it one of its top five “rental housing killer” bills this year.

Nonpayment evictions plummeted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when California banned them for tenants with pandemic-related financial challenges. They’ve since spiked in many areas. Of the 166,463 eviction notices filed in the city of Los Angeles between February 2023 and mid-November 2024, for example, 94% were for nonpayment of rent, according to the city controller’s office. Rent delinquency accounted for more than 85% of eviction cases in San Mateo County in 2023, a Stanford study found.