Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon mocked Katie Porter on X after Porter shared a column urging Democrats to rally around her, writing, “You’re a freak too.” The exchange landed the same day Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for governor, jolting a California Democratic Party already thrown into chaos ahead of the June 2 primary.
Swalwell had been leading among Democrats before he dropped out after four women came forward alleging he sexually assaulted them. Porter’s post and Dhillon’s response put the former House member back in the center of a race that suddenly lost one of its front-runners and exposed how quickly the field can shift when a major candidate exits under pressure.
Porter, meanwhile, is hardly a new target for scrutiny. She made headlines last year after an outburst at a TV reporter, and footage later surfaced of her screaming, “Get out of my f–king shot,” at a staffer during a 2021 video call. In October, she threatened to walk out of an interview with a local CBS reporter because she did not like a question.
The criticism has also followed Porter back into her private life. Her ex-husband, Matthew Hoffman, said in divorce records that she frequently abused him verbally during their marriage and threw toys, books and other objects at him. In an April 2013 request for a restraining order, Hoffman said she routinely called him a “f–king idiot” and a “f–king incompetent,” and said she once shattered a glass coffee pot on their kitchen counter in March 2012 when she felt their house was not clean enough.
Hoffman filed for divorce in 2013 and also said Porter poured scalding-hot mashed potatoes on his head during a fight, underscoring why her record of confrontations has remained part of the political conversation around her. With Swalwell out and the June 2 primary approaching, the immediate question is not whether Porter can generate attention; it is whether California Democrats can unite behind a candidate whose baggage keeps growing just as the race narrows.