Kamala Harris leaves door open for potential 2028 presidential run

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WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be running for California governor in 2026– but is not ruling out another bid for the White House.

The two-time Democratic presidential candidate, who abruptly took over as her party’s nominee in the 2024 general election, said in a surprise announcement on July 30 that she would not compete in next year’s gubernatorial race.

What Harris, who currently lives in Southern California with her husband Doug Emhoff, did not say was whether she'd decided about running for president in 2028.

“For now, my leadership – and public service – will not be in elected office,” she said. “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.”

A source familiar with her thinking said Harris, 60, did not pass on a gubernatorial campaign in order to clear a path to run for president in 2028. 

But the person noted that Harris also did not close the door on running for president. And it would have been politically impossible for her to seek both elected offices. 

The next governor of California will take office at the beginning of 2027, around the same time that Harris would need to be gearing up for a presidential bid were she to compete again.

Another factor: Harris is currently writing a book, two people with knowledge of her plans said, and is expected to go on tour.

More: Burdened by what had been: Kamala Harris couldn’t convince voters

"She can do anything she wants to do, but she owes us nothing. And I hope she spends some time with the kids and Dougie, maybe teaches. I'm ready to go read the book,” longtime Harris ally Bakari Sellers said. “She's a talent and 2028 could be it. Or 2032. Whatever she decides. She's young."

The announcement adds an additional wrinkle to the decision-making process for Democrats with national ambitions who were forced to take a back seat to Harris last year, when former President Joe Biden quit his reelection campaign and endorsed his sitting vice president as his replacement.

Harris lost the Electoral College in a landslide to President Donald Trump, whom she characterized on the trail as an acute threat to democracy in the face of robust evidence that the electorate was primarily concerned about inflation and the economy.

She also came under criticism in the abbreviated campaign for refusing to distance herself from Biden, whose mental fitness and age have faced even greater scrutiny since he left office.

In her statement on the California governor’s race, Harris said the country is in a “moment of crisis” because the nation’s politics, government and institutions have frequently failed the American people.

“As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking – committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook,” Harris said.

'She could still drop the hammer'

The announcement took even some of her closest political allies by surprise.

“I was anticipating an announcement for governor, because she would be good at it, and I thought she still wanted to get back in that fryer right now,” said Sellers, a co-chair of Harris’ first presidential campaign.

Harris allies said they do not know which way Harris would come down on a 2028 presidential bid, but they were glad to see her commit to remaining politically active.

“I think we'll all be waiting with bated breath to see what her next steps are,” former Biden and Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said.

Chavez Rodriguez worked for Harris in her Senate office and on her bid for the 2020 presidential nomination before joining Biden’s team. She worked as a senior aide at the White House and ran his reelection campaign.

She said she believes Harris is focused on “figuring out what she can do in the moment…given the challenges that we're facing in the immediate, and what I know will be even more challenges coming up.”

Glynda Carr, president of Higher Heights, which works to expand Black women’s political power and backed Harris’ 2020 presidential bid, said her campaign had inspired other women to run. 

“I am on team Kamala Harris in whatever she decides to do,’’ Carr said, noting that Harris can lead outside of having an elected office. “I’m on team 'Kamala, private citizen,' team 'Kamala, candidate.'”

Jaime Harrison, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said he would like to see Harris campaign for Democrats running for office in 2026, especially in the South.

He encouraged his party to stay focused on overturning Republicans’ narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and winning governorships.

“It's good to have her out there, and I'm sure, as she goes around the country, she'll make up her mind about what she wants to do about 2028. But we can't think about 2028 until we get to 2026,” Harrison said.

As for what it all means for possible candidates such as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the answer is simple, Sellers said.

“Nothing, because she could still drop the hammer on all of them if she wants to run for president,” the Harris ally said. “She'll beat all of them if she decides.”

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Deborah Barfield Berry