There does not appear to be many Californians dreaming of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
A majority of Golden State “policy influencers” expressed skepticism about Harris’s chances of competing for governor in 2026, when incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom is prevented from running owing to term limits.
According to a survey conducted by Politico and UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center, 36% of respondents were “indifferent” to the thought of Harris running, 22% were “mostly excited,” 20% were “irritated,” and 4% were “outraged.”
State and federal lawmakers and staffers were among those surveyed, as were subscribers to Politico’s news products, California Playbook, POLITICO Pro in California, and California Climate.
According to the study, registered voters were more enthusiastic about the former San Francisco district attorney, senator, and vice president gaining office in Sacramento.
Among Democrats, 41% said they’d be “most excited” if Harris, 60, ran, while 33% said they’d be “joyful,” and almost a quarter were indifferent.
Minority voters’ reactions were varied, with 35% saying they’d be “joyful” if Harris ran and another 38% saying they’d be “mostly excited.”
Meanwhile, 19% of Latino voters said they were “hopeless” about Harris running, while 19% of Asian voters said they were “irritated” by the notion, according to the poll. Harris has remained tight-lipped about her ambitions and has kept a low public presence since President Donald Trump declared her electoral victory last November. However, she is widely considered to be considering running for governor in 2026 or for president in 2028.
The collective “meh” is not particularly surprising, said Jack Citrin, a longtime political science professor at UC Berkeley, who said Harris is still trying to shrug off her “heartbreaking” loss in the 2024 presidential election while deciding what she plans to do next.
“These people are not given to euphoria,” Citrin said when asked about voters being excited about Harris.
After losing to Trump, 78, Harris stated publicly that she will “stay in the fight” and will not “go quietly into the night.”
Harris made an unexpected appearance at a leadership summit for black women in California on Thursday, offering a glimpse into her political future following her loss to President Trump in the 2024 election.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Harris said during her nearly 8-minute speech at the Leading Women Defined gathering, per The Hill.
Kamala Harris, who represented California in the U.S. Senate from 2017 until becoming vice president under former President Biden in 2021, is widely believed to be considering a run for governor in 2026. A formal decision is expected by the end of the summer.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, another former Biden administration official, officially entered the race on Wednesday, launching his campaign for the governorship.
Early polling suggests that if Harris were to jump in, she would be the clear Democratic frontrunner. A February survey by Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill found her leading the field with support from nearly 60 percent of likely primary voters.
Harris has so far avoided directly answering whether she plans to run to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who is barred from seeking another term due to term limits.
Harris did not mention the president by name during her rare public address, but she talked about the alleged “fear” felt in “these last few months in our country.”
“There were many things that we knew would happen, many things,” Harris said in a nod to her presidential campaign.
“I’m not here to say, ‘I told you so,’” she said with a smile as the crowd cheered. “I swore I wasn’t going to say that.”
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