Former California Congressman Harley Rouda is bowing out of the race to replace Rep. Katie Porter in the state's 47th Congressional District on the advice of his doctors following a traumatic brain injury.
Rouda, a businessman who represented the state in Congress from 2019 to 2021, said in a release shared by his campaign that he suffered a fall in late March, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury and two brain bleeds.
While Rouda said in the statement he was “on the path to a full recovery,” he has decided “on their [doctors] advice, I am ending my campaign for California’s 47th congressional district.”
"This is not the outcome I wanted," he said. "But my family comes first, and to be there for them, I need to focus fully on my recovery in the months ahead."
Rouda, 61, announced a bid in January to fill Porter's House seat after she announced a U.S. Senate bid to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is retiring at the end of her term.
“I love this community and this district. I still believe today that we need moderates in office who will reach across the aisle and actually do the work of governing,” Rouda said in his announcement. “I believe we need to elect people who don’t care for antics, props, and sound bites, but care about serving the greater good. People who run for office to actually serve the people who elected them.”
Porter, for her part, had already endorsed state Sen. Dave Min to succeed her in the House. Min and Porter were both law professors at the University of California, Irvine before their foray into politics.
Rounding out the Democratic field for the seat so far are Huntington Beach business owner and activist Dominique “Dom” Jones and community activist Joanna Weiss.
On the Republican side, businessman and Newport Beach resident Max Ukropina announced Monday he would be running for the nomination. Former California State Assemblyman Scott Baugh, who lost his bid to unseat Porter in 2022, is also running for the seat.
In a Twitter post, Ukropina offered his best wishes to Rouda for a speedy recovery: “The Ukropina family is praying for you, Harley. You got this. Thank you for continuing to care for our district.”