Kamala Harris’ Comeback Hopes Take a Major Blow

Former vice president Kamala Harris has kept a fairly low profile since losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump.

But as she weighs whether to run for California governor next year, experts say that might be a safer bet than mounting another bid for the White House.

Harris has said little about her future plans, though she is expected to announce her decision by the end of the summer.

“As disappointing as Kamala Harris’ loss in 2024 was, it won’t be the last chapter in her political biography,” Thad Kousser, a professor of political science and co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at the University of California, San Diego, told Newsweek.

Kousser said a presidential run in 2028 “is unlikely” since the Democratic Party is “collectively soul-searching to find a new vision” and “may not turn to exactly the candidate who lost the last election.” Newsweek has contacted Harris’ office for comment via a contact form on her website.

What The Polls Show About Kamala Harris

Harris, who served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and as a U.S. senator before becoming vice president, would be the top choice for Californians if she enters the governor’s race, according to a new poll from the University of California, Irvine.

Still, the poll found just about a quarter of Californians would back her in the race. And when asked to choose between Harris and an unnamed Republican candidate, just 41 percent chose Harris, while 29 percent chose the unnamed Republican. Sixteen percent said they were undecided and 14 percent said they would not vote.

Jon Gould, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology and director of the UCI-OC Poll, told Newsweek that if Harris were to jump into the race to replace California Governor Gavin Newsom, she “would start as the prohibitive favorite, but there is plenty of room for others to successfully compete with her.”

It would provide “a perfectly timed opportunity to revitalize her career,” Kousser said. “Many of her political stances and policy positions that proved a liability in the national contest could be strengths in this solidly blue state.”

But Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, believes Harris could still face a challenge in the governor’s race.

“The stain of a national presidential loss can be difficult to overcome,” he told Newsweek. “Failed bids for the presidency can suppress support for these contenders if they subsequently seek other offices.”

Harris could face a tougher battle if she chooses to run for president again in 2028. The contest is expected to attract a large field of candidates, and a recent poll found that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is currently more favored than Harris.

However, a Morning Consult poll released in June showed Harris with a stronger lead, with 34 percent saying they planned to support her. Seven percent said they would vote for Buttigieg in that poll, while 11 percent said they leaned toward Newsom.

“I do not see much of a political future at the national level for Harris, due to a variety of factors,” Grant Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek.

“Even though she was dealt a tough hand in the presidential race, she struggled as a candidate, particularly when asked specific questions about her policy positions and about Biden administration policies, which presumably she was partly responsible for.”

She is also tied to former President Joe Biden, who has faced increasing scrutiny about his mental acuity since leaving office with new books alleging White House aides had covered up his physical and mental decline.

Harris “either had to know and was part of the cover-up, or she was so out of the loop at the White House that she was unaware—either of those does not reflect well on her,” Reeher said.

Those issues could also hurt her in a statewide race, he said.

“She has 100 percent name recognition out of the gate, but the questions about her role in the Biden administration and her stumbling as a candidate could knock her back, along with the general ‘hangover’ effect of the 2024 loss to Trump that some donors have articulated,” he said.

Reeher said a better path for Harris may be if she “stays around and participates in national conversations, helps the Democratic nominee in 2028, and if the Democrat wins, is rewarded with a Cabinet position.”

The fact that Harris “failed to come as close as many expected, bested by Trump in all battleground states, will make it even harder for her” to mount a successful bid for the White House in 2028, Panagopoulos said.

Voters in her home state of California “can be more forgiving and receptive, but nationally, voters may feel Harris has already had her shot,” he said. “They may be more apt to be looking for fresh faces.”