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Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, ending months of feverish speculation and raising fresh questions about the next chapter of her political career.
The former vice president — a California native who rose to prominence as attorney general and U.S. senator for the state — announced today that she would skip next year’s open gubernatorial race. Though she did not confirm other plans, the decision leaves open the possibility that Harris will make another bid for the White House in 2028.
“I love this state, its people and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election,” Harris wrote in a statement posted on social media. “I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans.”
Conjecture about what Harris would do next began almost immediately after she lost the November election to President Donald Trump. The 60-year-old Harris is still relatively young in political terms, and her flashy 107-day drive for the presidency, after then-President Joe Biden dropped out, reignited public interest in a figure who had been pushed to the margins in Washington, D.C.
Many observers came to see the California governorship as a natural landing spot. Harris previously passed on the office to run for U.S. Senate in 2016, averting a showdown with future Gov. Gavin Newsom and setting off her rapid ascent in national politics. With Newsom terming out next year, the 2026 gubernatorial race is wide open, and California’s outsized role in the political discourse still provides its governor with a stage that can reach far beyond the state.
But seeking the office would have almost certainly forestalled a campaign in the next presidential election, which will kick into overdrive in early 2027, just as California’s new governor is taking office.
And despite returning to the state, where she lives in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, Harris appeared in recent months to be more interested in cultivating her place in the national spotlight. She publicly dipped back into politics in April with a speech at a fundraiser in San Francisco, where she warned that Trump was fomenting a constitutional crisis and called on Democrats to stand together to fight back against his dismantling of American values.
“They are counting on the notion that if they make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others,” Harris said at the time. “But what they have overlooked is that fear is not the only thing that's contagious. Courage is contagious.”
The crowded field of California gubernatorial candidates is no doubt breathing a sigh of relief at the news. Harris’ near-universal awareness with voters and nationwide fundraising network would have made her the immediate frontrunner in the race and likely sent many of her fellow Democrats scurrying for the exit.
Early public polling is spotty, but an April survey from Inside California Politics and Emerson College found that 31% of voters supported a theoretical Harris campaign, while no other contender exceeded single digits.
They include former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Controller Betty Yee, former state Senate leader Toni Atkins, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and timeshare magnate Stephen Cloobeck.
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco are the most prominent Republicans in the field.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
