In her first significant public remarks since suffering a resounding electoral defeat alongside President Joe Biden in the 2024 race, former Vice President Kamala Harris hinted that her time in the political spotlight is far from over.
Speaking Thursday at the Leading Women Defined Summit in Dana Point, California, Harris stopped short of announcing a specific campaign but made one thing clear: she’s not stepping off the field.
“We can’t go out there and do battle if we don’t take care of ourselves and each other,” Harris told the crowd. “I’ll see you out there. I’m not going anywhere.”
The comment, light on detail but rich in implication, has reignited speculation about Harris’s future—particularly as it relates to California’s 2026 gubernatorial race. With current Governor Gavin Newsom term-limited and widely expected to mount a 2028 presidential campaign, the race to succeed him is already heating up.
According to POLITICO, Harris has privately set an end-of-summer deadline to determine whether she will enter what’s shaping up to be a deeply competitive primary.
Should she jump in, Harris would be re-entering a political arena that’s already crowded with familiar Democratic names. Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra just announced his candidacy, joining a field that includes former Rep. Katie Porter, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former State Controller Betty Yee, former Senate President Toni Atkins, and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
While Harris didn’t explicitly name Donald Trump during her remarks, the former vice president made several allusions to the current administration, voicing concern over what she framed as a climate of fear under Trump’s return to power.
“These are the things that we are witnessing each day in these last few months in our country, and it understandably creates a great sense of fear,” she said, echoing talking points from her 2024 campaign.
She also touched on the warnings she issued during the election, subtly suggesting they are now manifesting. “I’m not here to say, ‘I told you so.’ I swore I wasn’t going to say that,” she added—though the implication hung heavy in the air.
