Kamala Harris is keeping her options open as she looks to her future political career. Despite losing her whirlwind presidential bid, the vice president is reportedly “staying in the fight.”
Sources in Harris' inner circle told Politico that her path forward could be a possible 2028 presidential run, or a bid for governor of California in two years. Harris, they say, is expected to explore these and other options with her family over the winter holidays.
“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months,” one former Harris campaign aide said. “The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.”
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Since her election defeat, Harris has been unwinding in Hawaii with her family and senior aides. However, as one person close to the vice president said, “There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won’t be a vacuum for long,” a person close to Harris said.
Harris and her advisers are reportedly working on defining how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump and re-emphasize her role in the Democratic Party.
Among her final duties as vice president, she will certifying the November election she lost to Trump, and then appear at her political rival’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
“There is no one — no one — who actually can relate to what she’s been through these last four months. No one,” said Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster.
Harris' historic ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, 100 days before the election strengthened her presence within the party. Her aides and party insiders claim she represents an “X factor” in the next Democratic primary.
Still, as one Democratic strategist told Politico, “I can’t conceivably imagine the party turning to her a second time.”
Should Harris opt out of a second presidential bid, the earliest inklings about her next political move will likely be related to a potential plan to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom. A potential Harris gubernatorial candidacy was first reported on by Politico in May, an idea to which her office dismissed.
An October poll conducted the University of California at Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times reported that 46 percent of registered voters in California said they would back Harris' in the 2026 gubernatorial election.
If Harris chooses to not run for governor, she will have to weigh the consequences of bowing out of an open race in a state where other high-profile offices are unlikely to become vacant soon. Both of California’s Senate seats will be filled for the foreseeable future by incumbent Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff .
