After months of speculation about her political future, former Vice President and San Francisco Bay Area native Kamala Harris has ruled out one option: governor of California.
Harris said Wednesday that she will not enter the 2026 race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is serving his second term and cannot run again. Harris did not say what she plans to do next, but her choice is the clearest sign yet that she may still be considering a third run for president.
“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 said in a statement. “For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office. 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.”
Since her loss to President Trump in November, Harris, 60, has spent most of this year out of the public eye, settling back into life in Los Angeles and speaking with confidants about her options: run for president for a third time in 2028, launch a gubernatorial campaign or end a two-decade career in elected office and enter the private sector. She has reportedly written a memoir and considered starting a nonprofit focused on young voters and democracy or a political action committee to help Democrats.
Veteran Democratic strategist Sean Clegg, a longtime advisor to Harris, said the former vice president weighed the run but ultimately decided that her next chapter would be focused on other political pursuits outside of elected office.
“I think she listened to her gut. … Obviously she saw a huge opportunity so she had to consider it, but at the end of the day she just didn’t feel called,” said Clegg, who has worked on Harris’ campaigns since 2008. “Until January of this year … she’s been in public office continuously for 22 years and has spent her entire career since she graduated law school in public service. I think she’s interested in exploring how she can have an impact from the outside for a while.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), among the Democrats she has spoken with in recent months as she weighed a run, said he knew it was a “difficult decision” for Harris. But he said he was hopeful Harris would be a key player in next year’s midterm elections.
“I think she feels at this moment she needs to help Democrats win back Congress and help Democrats across the country. She feels a real responsibility about where the country is headed,” said Garcia, who has known Harris for more than a decade. Harris swore him in when he was first elected mayor of Long Beach in 2014 before he became a member of Congress.
“A lot of us want to see her help us engage in the midterms and help the House, raise money [for candidates] and got to battleground districts,” he said.
Serving as the governor of California, a bulwark in the anti-Trump movement, would have given Harris another shot at her political rival and an opportunity to rewrite the end of her political story after a barrier-breaking career.
Harris was the first woman to be elected district attorney of San Francisco, the first woman to be elected California attorney general, the first woman of color to be elected to the U.S. Senate from California, and the first woman elected vice president of the United States under President Biden.
Harris would have entered the race with significant advantages, including name recognition and a vast national network of donors. But she would also have run with an unusual amount of baggage for a gubernatorial candidate, including her loss to Trump, which dampened enthusiasm for her candidacy among some party loyalists and fundraisers.
Harris said she admires and respects public servants but there needs to be recognition that “our politics, our government, and our institutions have too often failed the American people, culminating in this moment of crisis.”
“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,” the former vice president said.
Her decision to stay out of the governor’s race could help kick-start the campaign as major donors and possible candidates come off the sidelines. Although candidates still have months to file their paperwork before the June 2 primary, Harris faced pressure to make a decision sooner as a courtesy to the candidates already in the race.
Without Harris, the field of candidates for the governor’s mansion will still lack a candidate with real star power. Though the list of Democrats running reads like a who’s-who of political power in the Golden State, none are household names.
The Democrats running include Toni Atkins, a former Assembly speaker and Senate president pro tem; Xavier Becerra, former California attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretary; Stephen Cloobeck, a philanthropist and businessman; Eleni Kounalakis, the state’s lieutenant governor; Katie Porter, a former congresswoman from Orange County; Tony Thurmond, the superintendent of public instruction; Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles; and Betty Yee, the former state controller.
There are two well-known Republicans in the race: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who has said he would have “welcomed” the chance to run against Harris; and conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
