While polls continue to show that former Vice President Kamala Harris is still the frontrunner to be the Democrats’ next presidential candidate following her loss to President Donald Trump, a new report indicates she has a different position in her sights as well: governor of California.
POLITICO reported Friday that Harris is “seriously considering a run for governor of California,” and has given herself an end-of-summer deadline to decide. The outlet cited “two people with knowledge” of a conversation Harris had with a fellow partygoer at a pre-Oscars party.
So far, early national polls of the field of possible Democratic presidential candidates show Harris at the head of the pack. However, POLITICO said “she’s had some frank conversations with advisers and confidants in Washington about how difficult they expect the presidential primary to be.”
Last year, Harris wasn’t a candidate in the primaries, since President Joe Biden didn’t drop out of the race until late July. She became the candidate during the Democratic National Convention in August and ran the shortest presidential campaign in history.
Though her chances of becoming the nominee again look good, Harris’ aides noted that she also “has long been intrigued by the idea of being the chief executive of the fifth-largest economy in the world and the first Black woman to be governor in America.” Harris has already served as the attorney general of and as a senator representing California, her home state.
Current Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t be running next year due to term limits. His recent podcast launch – and comments that seemed aimed at appealing to Republicans – hint that he’s considering his own run for the White House when his term is over.
Polls Audacy reported on shortly after the November election found that Harris would be a strong contender for either a presidential or California governor race.
The very prospect of her running in the gubernatorial race has resulted in “several California Democratic candidates,” to reconsider joining the fray, according to POLITICO. State Attorney General Rob Bonta told the outlet that he planned to seek reelection and that he would not want to run for governor if Harris was in the race.
“I hope she does. I have already raised my hand to endorse her, if she does,” Bonta said.
POLITICO said former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter would also back away from the race if Harris threw her hat in, even though Porter had been “eyeing the race closely.”
However, POLITICO noted that Harris has not convened “formal conversations” about a run for governor yet, and it seems that she’s currently keeping her options open. She’s recently made an appearance at the NAACP Image Awards to accept the Chairman’s prize and participated in a moderated conversation on artificial intelligence in early primary state of Las Vegas.
“I am staying in this fight,” Harris has repeated to allies in phone calls and at private gatherings, said POLITICO.