After months of openly considering the possibility, former Rep. Katie Porter announced Tuesday she is running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Porter, a Democrat who represented an Orange County district in Congress for three terms, launched her campaign in a video posted on social media, casting herself as a fighter who will stand up to President Donald Trump and corporate interests.

“What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit,” Porter said in the video. “Fresh blood and new ideas. Leaders with the backbone to fight for what’s right. As governor, I won’t ever back down when Trump hurts Californians, whether he’s holding up disaster relief, attacking our rights or our communities or screwing over working families to benefit himself and his cronies.”

In an interview after her announcement, Porter said she brings valuable experience from representing a swing district. Everyone wants a government that is effective and works for the people, Porter said, “which Trump is not.”

“We need our government to help protect us, to make sure that we can continue to flourish, that our economy is strong, that we can compete globally,” she said. “What they see Trump doing with things like tariffs, across the board, Republicans, Democrats and independents are all going to bear those higher costs.”

Newsom is ineligible to run in 2026 because of term limits. His second and final term ends in January 2027, leaving the governor’s seat open in the next election. The primary is set for June 2, 2026, with the general election Nov. 3.

Porter joins a field of seven candidates officially running to succeed Newsom, including Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Former Los Angeles Mayor and Democratic candidate Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement that he welcomes Porter to the race and said “voters deserve a robust campaign.”

He said California faces many challenges, such as “higher prices for groceries, gas and housing, public safety and homelessness. We need to stop Donald Trump from hurting Californians, and the best way to take on Trump is to improve the quality of life of all Californians.”

On homelessness, a key issue in the state, Porter said she believes there needs to be more housing but also a larger focus on preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.

“Here in Orange County, we have seen even as we have built more shelters and have more housing than we did, there are still more people facing that housing pinch, so emphasizing that prevention piece is also a really important part of homelessness solutions,” she said.

But a major wildcard in the governor’s race is former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is considering a run for California’s top post, as first reported by Politico. Her decision, expected by the end of summer, could dramatically reshape the field.

Porter said Tuesday afternoon that if Harris “chooses to run, she would have a powerful, field-clearing effect.”

“I obviously worked for Harris and got my start in public service here in California, helping families who were cheated by the foreclosure crisis, so I was right there seeing how she led as our attorney general,” she said.

But Trump is inflicting “real harm today,” and Californians need to start considering what comes next, Porter added.

“That’s what this campaign is about,” she said.

Porter first won office in 2018, flipping a Republican-held congressional seat in Orange County as part of a Democratic sweep that sent only Democrats to Washington that year. She gained national recognition for her aggressive questioning of Trump administration officials and corporate executives, often using a whiteboard to break down complex issues.

“As governor, I’ll bring all voices to the table to hear new ideas no matter who they come from or what else we may agree or disagree on,” Porter said. “I’ve only ever been motivated by one thing: making Californians’ lives better. And I’ll go toe to toe with anyone who tries to hurt Californians.”

Florice Hoffman, chair of the Orange County Democratic Party, said she’s proud Porter has entered the race.

“She will fight for California against MAGA extremism and is committed to making the economy work for all Californians and not just the rich and powerful,” Hoffman said.

Meanwhile, Will O’Neill, chair of the Orange County Republican Party, who appeared alongside Porter at a post-election panel at UCI in December, criticized Porter’s stance on such issues as homelessness, likening her approach to what he called Newsom’s “disastrous” tenure.

“Porter is simply not the right candidate at a time when Californians want real solutions to real problems,” he said.

Bianco, who announced his candidacy Feb. 17, blasted Porter in a statement.

“Katie Porter is a failed progressive Democrat with a history of supporting policies that increased inflation, grocery, gas and energy prices,” he said. “She is cut from the same cloth of the failed career politicians who created California’s cost-of-living crisis. We cannot expect the same people who created this mess to get us out of it. Californians deserve so much better.”

Since leaving Congress in January after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate, where she finished third in the primary behind then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Republican Steve Garvey, Porter has returned to UC Irvine School of Law, where she teaches bankruptcy, consumer law and the legislative process.