By admin 
Months after an unsuccessful run in the gubernatorial primary, Katie Porter is stepping into a new role. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Porter to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors Friday.
Read more Sacramento standoff on Howe Avenue ends with woman’s arrest after 3 assaulted
The 18-member board sets policy and provides guidance for the 73 districts and 116 colleges that make up the California Community Colleges system. Her six-year term will begin following confirmation from the Senate. The position pays $100 per day of official business.
“California’s community colleges are the foundation of our higher education system and the engine of our workforce development program,” Porter said in a statement. “As a UC Irvine professor, I see firsthand the terrific work our community colleges do in giving students the skills they need to succeed. I’m looking forward to working with the Board of Governors to continue its innovative programs that increase access to learning.”
Since 2025, Porter has been a professor at the University of California, Irvine’s law school, where her research focuses on consumer bankruptcy. An attorney, she has also taught at the University of Iowa, Harvard Law School, UC Berkeley Law and the University of Illinois.
Read more Newsom appoints former Rep. Katie Porter to California Community Colleges board
Porter, a Democrat, served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019-2025 after she flipped a Republican-held Orange County congressional seat. In Congress, she developed a name for herself grilling bank executives and Trump administration officials in exchanges that sometimes went viral. After coming up short in a 2024 campaign to replace the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Porter set her eyes on the 2026 California gubernatorial race.
She won less than 5% of the vote in the crowded primary in June, while Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton secured their spots in the November election. A month later, she told The Sacramento Bee, she was “closing the door on being a candidate” but was not done with public service.
Now, she is set to join the board of the largest system of higher education in the nation. Appointed by the governor, the board includes two students, two faculty members, a community college staff member and the lieutenant governor. The other 12 members must be selected from “outstanding lay citizens of California who have a strong interest in the further development and improvement of the California Community Colleges,” per state education code.
Read more Should California require voter and citizenship ID? Our Prop. 39 endorsement | Opinion