Democratic Rep. Katie Porter holds on to seat in tightly fought Orange County race
Katie Porter is running to be the next Orange County Register editor and she’s just three percentage points out of being elected in November.
The Republican, who entered the race after former Register Editor Roberta Lange was ousted from office, had been trying to gain traction in the race, but was still nowhere near where she needs to be to stay in the race.
On Tuesday, Porter edged out Democrat John Moorlach by just three percentage points of the vote.
The Democrat, who represents the 11th Congressional District, has more money and better campaign finance numbers, but she’ll also face a new test with her opponent, Porter.
Moorlach, who lost to Democrat Harley Rouda in November, has the support of the powerful anti-corruption organization, the League of Women Voters of Orange County, the district’s largest.
Porter, who’s endorsed by the Orange County Business Council, faces an uphill battle for re-election.
When she entered the race with only $2,500, the money she was hoping to raise quickly ran out.
She started with $8,000 in the bank but then ran into $1,700 in bills and credit card bills.
She ended with $11,500, but by the time voters cast their ballots on Tuesday, some of that money had run out.
Even with all the money she brought to the race, she was still not close enough to the finish line.
Porter had $10,500 to her name and a lot of cash on hand but still would have been closer to Moorlach had it not been for the high numbers of mail-in ballots that were still in that were turned in by Republicans and Democrats.
The race was very close, which is why Porter’s campaign was focused on winning the mail-in ballots.
In all, Porter won 5,955 ballots
