BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A whiteboard, an Expo marker and a minivan helped Katie Porter rise to fame and be elected to Congress in 2018. Through her time on the Hill, she made a name for herself as a champion of affordability.

She hopes to use that experience to help tackle the rising affordability crisis facing many Californians.

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“I think a lot of Californians feel like Sacramento is more concerned about catering to powerful special interests than they are about what it’s like to be an ordinary Californian,” Democrat Katie Porter said.

As gas and grocery prices continue to rise across California and the country, it spotlights the affordability problem. Porter’s approach is to build more housing and cut the cost of living in the Golden state.

“I’m a single mom to three teenage kids, so I’m the one pushing the shopping cart, saying no to the $7 box of cereal, seeing that, you know, blueberries are $8 just grow here in California. And so I understand very much what we’re doing,” said the former Orange County Representative. “The biggest piece of it is housing. So bringing down the cost of housing, building more housing, building more different kinds of housing…”

Porter explained in the one-on-one interview with 17 News her reaction to changing the name of Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day. The change she says is far too common in today’s society.

“The news about what he did, the harms that he wrought on the women who came forward on the survivors, those are incredibly powerful stories. We can’t look away from those actions. So I absolutely support renaming things to recognize the people who powered that movement,” said Porter.

Porter isn’t a stranger to the hard work of growing crops — her family for generations owned a farm in Iowa. She said that experience helped shape her approach to California agriculture.

“This is I think my fourth or fifth trip during this campaign to the Central Valley mad there incredible belief in the potential of the Valley to grow and in the people who’s making their lives here, that they need a leader in Sacramento who sees them, who values them and who invests in them.”

In recent months, Porter has consistently polled in the top five candidates in the race for California governor.

But there’s one thing she says that separates her from the rest of the pack.

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“I am the only candidate in this race, Democrat or Republic, that does not take corporate contributions. My campaign is funded by Californians, and that’s who I’m going to be. The governor for regular Californians.”

California’s Governor primary election will be held June 2.

The top two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party, will be on the ballot in the November midterm election.

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