Former Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA), who was planning to run to regain the seat he lost last year, may retire after incumbent Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) announced her intention to run in the same congressional district.
Incumbent congressional members in California are starting to decide which seat they intend to run for in the midterms now that the state’s redistricting maps are finalized. Porter announced she would run in California’s Forty-seventh Congressional District, the same district Rouda was planning to run in.
Porter made her decision to run in the newly drawn congressional district on Monday after the lines were finalized, according to the Orange County Register. The report noted that while the new district does not include her house, district residency is not a requirement for House members, though it is considered politically favorable.
A spokesperson for Porter, Jordan Wong, told the Hill that Porter would run in the district since her children go to school there, noting that Porter has not represented the majority of voters in the district in the past.
Rouda planned to reclaim the seat he once had before suffering a significant loss against Republican Rep. Michelle Steel (CA). However, it seems that Porter may stop him from running again.
In a statement, Rouda slammed Porter for running in a district he has lived and run in for years. He emphasized that Porter is leaving 70 percent of her constituents behind in her district that is still “intact.”
He hoped the two of them would run in different districts to have the best chance of “stopping the radical right from controlling the government they sought to overthrow on January 6th” and stay in the majority if they both won in the midterms.
In his statement, he also claimed to be the best candidate for the district, as he believes the constituents want to have “moderate” and “pragmatic leadership.” But Rouda, claiming to be a “realist” and wanting what is best for the country, said, “My family and I will be taking this opportunity to spend the holidays together, and evaluate all the options laid before us.”
Porter also has a significant advantage over Rouda since she had built a war chest. Porter’s latest fundraising filing with the Federal Election Commission showed she has over $14.5 million cash on hand, while Rouda only has roughly $600,000.
Steel announced on Monday that she would run in the forty-fifth congressional district, which encompasses portions of Steel’s current district. The congresswoman has raised over $2.1 million in the first three-quarters of the election cycle.
“Although the district lines have changed, my mission has not. I have spent my entire career as a public servant fighting to protect California taxpayers, to lower crime rates, and to hold government accountable when it fails the people, and I will continue to do that work,” Steel said in s a statement.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.