Katie Porter Gives California’s Game Away at the Debate

Some may ask why I’m following the race for California governor as closely as I am, given that President Trump’s endorsement of former Fox News host Steve Hilton effectively scotched the Impossible Dream: getting two Republicans through the all-party primary into November, thus forcing a 60 percent Democratic state to pick between quaffing two different flavors of conservative GOP hemlock. It was a dream too far for those NR readers who remain locked behind the black gates of the Golden State — especially in 2026 — but alas.

No, the reason I’m invested in California is the comedy potential. For all its vast wealth, beauty, population, and cultural cachet, California feels like every bit as much of a failed state as Illinois or Minnesota — and all while lacking the ineffable international glamour and sparkling weather of Minneapolis or Chicago. Yet California’s political pistons still power the national Democratic engine: Most of the worst ideas and candidates you’re likely to encounter nationally still pump forth first from the bilge-pipe of the Left Coast and spread from there, because that’s where so many elite progressives still live.

JB

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.

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Some may ask why I’m following the race for California governor as closely as I am, given that President Trump’s endorsement of former Fox News host Steve Hilton effectively scotched the Impossible Dream: getting two Republicans through the all-party primary into November, thus forcing a 60 percent Democratic state to pick between quaffing two different flavors of conservative GOP hemlock. It was a dream too far for those NR readers who remain locked behind the black gates of the Golden State — especially in 2026 — but alas.

No, the reason I’m invested in California is the comedy potential. For all its vast wealth, beauty, population, and cultural cachet, California feels like every bit as much of a failed state as Illinois or Minnesota — and all while lacking the ineffable international glamour and sparkling weather of Minneapolis or Chicago. Yet California’s political pistons still power the national Democratic engine: Most of the worst ideas and candidates you’re likely to encounter nationally still pump forth first from the bilge-pipe of the Left Coast and spread from there, because that’s where so many elite progressives still live.

JB

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.