Senate candidate Katie Porter, D-Calif., on Wednesday suggested that the California primary race was rigged by “an onslaught of billionaires” after losing to her Democratic opponent, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
The progressive Democrat did not win a single county, earning a statewide total of just under 14%. She finished nearly twenty points behind both Schiff and Republican candidate Steve Garvey and came in third place in Orange County, which she has represented since 2019.
L-R: Katie Porter and Adam Schiff (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Porter said her supporters “had the establishment running scared – withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election.”
She said the results demonstrated that Californians were “hungry for leaders who break the mold, can’t be bought, and push for accountability in government and across our economy.”
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“Special interests like politics as it is today because they control the politicians,” she said. “As we’ve seen in this campaign, they spend millions to defeat someone who will dilute their influence and disrupt the status quo.”
Former President Trump was frequently criticized for throwing around the word “rigged” after losing the 2020 presidential election to President Biden.
FILE: Rep. Katie Porter and Rep. Adam Schiff, left, and right participate in a debate on stage with other democrats who are running to succeed Sen. Feinstein at Westing Bonaventure Hotel on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the campaign offices of Porter and Schiff for additional comment. Garvey declined to respond.
Porter herself has received millions of dollars from big donors to boost her campaign, despite touting her record of not accepting corporate PAC money. She has reportedly accepted thousands of dollars in donations from big Wall Street donors, according to federal campaign finance disclosures.
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California, in which Republicans are outnumbered by registered Democrats by about 2-to-1, puts all candidates, regardless of party, on the same primary ballot and the two who get the most votes advance to the general election. A Republican hasn’t won a statewide race for any office in California since 2006.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
