Kamala Harris Made One Bold Move that Left Democrats Fuming
Kamala Harris just got some bad news she didn’t see coming.
Her own party is turning on her, and it’s getting ugly fast.
And now Kamala Harris made one bold move that left Democrats fuming.
Her Own Party Wanted Her Gone From the National Stage
Many Democrats wish Harris had run for governor of California rather than potentially making another bid for the presidency in 2028. After their defeat in 2024, some Democrats wanted both former President Joe Biden and Harris to step out of the political limelight.
The New York Times ran a piece headlined “A California Dream? Some Democrats Fear Harris Picked the Wrong Race,” noting that “maybe, they say, she should have run for governor instead of publicly pondering a third run for president.”
That’s the kind of thing that stings. When your own party’s flagship newspaper is printing pieces about how you blew it, things aren’t going well.
One example the Times recalled was *The View* co-host Sunny Hostin, who urged Harris to abandon her presidential ambitions in favor of state politics. “California, it’s like running a country,” Hostin said. “I know that she’s talked about being president — I don’t know if that’s the right position for her — but my goodness, she certainly knows California.”
Instead, the Times wrote, Harris “has been roaming the country on a book tour,” saying recently that she “might” run for president again in 2028. “It’s enough to give some party loyalists heartburn. The governor’s race, they say, would have been a better bet.”
Democrats Saw a Slam Dunk and Watched Her Walk Away From It
California political consultant Lara Bergthold put it bluntly to the Times: “It’s pretty obvious she would have dominated the race. It felt like it was an easy win and an easy walk into the governor’s mansion here.” But, Bergthold added, “I get the feeling that she wants to play on the national stage.”
And that right there is the problem. Harris lost to Donald Trump. She got sent home. And instead of rebuilding from the ground up in a state she knows cold, she’s out touring the country with a book and dropping hints about 2028.
Harris announced she would not run for governor of California, ending months of speculation after her defeat to Donald Trump in the presidential race.
In a prepared statement, Harris said: “In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their Governor. 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.” She added: “For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office.”
But a source close to Harris told NBC News something that tells you everything you need to know about her real thinking.
“She still wants to be part of the national conversation and talk about Donald Trump, and being in debates and forums in California is not going to allow her to do that,” the source said.
So there it is. She doesn’t want to fix potholes and manage California’s budget mess. She wants to keep talking about Trump.
The California Race Is Now a Mess She Could Have Prevented
California has an open primary system where all candidates of both parties run against each other, meaning two candidates of the same party could face each other in the general election. With Republican votes divided among only two candidates and Democrat votes divided among eight, some Democrats have worried about the potential of a Republican being elected governor.
That’s a genuine problem for the left, and Harris could have shut it down entirely just by getting in the race.
The current crop of Democrat gubernatorial candidates still has no frontrunner, following former Representative Eric Swalwell throwing ihe towel resigning from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct. The Times noted that Rusty Hicks, the chairman of California’s state Democrat Party, “has urged candidates to ‘honestly assess’ whether they should remain in the race.”
That’s a party in chaos. No clear leader, a scandal-plagued dropout, and a fractured field that could hand Republicans an opening in a state they haven’t won statewide since 2006.
The 2028 Question Nobody in Her Party Really Wants to Answer
At the National Action Network’s annual convention, Harris told Reverend Al Sharpton, “I might. I am thinking about it,” when asked directly whether she was going to run for president in 2028.
Three times she repeated, “I’m thinking about it,” when Sharpton pressed her on the question.
But plenty of people in her own party aren’t exactly cheering that answer.
The fact that Harris lost the 2024 contest to President Trump will be a huge factor if she runs again in 2028, and some critics in the party already think Democrats should move in a different direction. “Honestly, it’s a mistake,” one Democrat donor said. “We can’t turn the page and have the same people run again. She tried hard. She did a great job, but this doesn’t mesh with the whole ‘fresh faces, fresh ideas’ narrative that we’ve all been kicking around since November’s loss.”
Longtime Democrat strategist Garry South put it plainly: “We Democrats tend to do best in these presidential races when we put up a fresh face.” South added that right now, Democrats are looking for someone to “bail them out” from their rudderless state, and “I don’t think they’re going to see Kamala Harris in that light.”
And that’s the brutal reality Democrats are sitting with. They’ve got a candidate who lost to Trump, skipped a race she almost certainly would have won, and is now keeping the door open for a third shot at the White House. Her own donors are calling it a mistake. Her own strategists are saying the party needs a fresh face. And yet here she is, still out there, still talking about running.
The Democrat Party spent years telling voters that Harris was the future. Now some of their most loyal voices are quietly hoping she finds something else to do.
A person close to Harris said her decision not to run for governor “does keep the door open” for a potential 2028 presidential run. Whether that door leads anywhere useful is a question her party can’t seem to agree on — and that disagreement alone says plenty.
Sources: Fox News, The New York Times (via Fox News), NBC News, The Hill, CalMatters, CBS News, PBS NewsHour