Former Vice President Kamala Harris is setting a timetable to make a major decision about her political future.
Harris, who lost last November’s White House election to now-President Donald Trump, is seriously considering a 2026 bid to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
Additionally, a source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital that Harris has told allies she will decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a gubernatorial campaign. The news was first reported by Politico.
There has been plenty of speculation since last year’s election regarding Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee last summer after he dropped out of the race amid mounting questions over his physical and mental stamina.
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The two potential options for Harris are launching a gubernatorial run next year in her home state or seeking the presidency again in 2028. Extremely early polls in the next Democratic Party presidential nomination race – which are heavily reliant on name recognition at this point – indicate that the former vice president holds a significant lead over other potential White House contenders.
It is very unlikely she could do both. Running and winning election in 2026 as governor of heavily blue California, the nation’s most populous state and home to the world’s fifth-largest economy, would likely take a 2028 White House run off the table, allies and political analysts have indicated.
Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and represented the Golden State in the U.S. Senate before joining Biden’s 2020 ticket and winning election as vice president.
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While no decisions have been made, the former vice president has vowed to remain politically involved.
Harris, in a video message to the Democratic National Committee, as it huddled for its winter meeting a month ago, pledged to be with the party “every step of the way.”
She recently spoke at the NAACP Image Awards, as she accepted the organization’s Chairman’s Award. This weekend, she is headed to Las Vegas – Nevada is an early-voting state in the presidential primary calendar and a key general election battleground – to speak at Human X, which is an AI-themed conference.
If Harris decides this summer to launch a gubernatorial campaign, she would likely clear much of the field of Democrats.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month he would support Harris if she decides to run and that “she would be field-clearing” if she launched a campaign.
Bonta, a former state lawmaker who has served as California attorney general since 2021, said he would run for re-election next year rather than launch a gubernatorial campaign, putting to rest speculation about his next political moves.
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“Kamala Harris would be a great governor,” Bonta said in an interview with Politico.
Among the more than half-dozen Democratic Party candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis – a Harris ally – and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.
Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.
Many of the current or potential candidates would likely stand aside if Harris entered the race.
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Among the Republicans, longtime Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, last month floated a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs.
“If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot,” Grenell said.
Meanwhile, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco last month announced his Republican candidacy for governor.
Additionally, former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a GOP gubernatorial bid.
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In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.
It has been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in California, back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.
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