Fresh off losing the 2024 White House race to President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris is already getting the word out that she is not discounting another run for office, according to a new report.
POLITICO reported on Monday that Harris has privately conveyed to advisers and others to “keep her options open,” including for a potential 2026 campaign for governor in her home state of California or a presidential run in 2028.
“I am staying in the fight,” Harris has declared in phone calls, per the report.
Harris, a former California attorney general and U.S. senator, replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee in the 2024 race for the White House after he dropped out earlier this year following a fumbling debate performance against Trump.
Trump ended up defeating Harris, coming out on top in all the battleground states and making gains among working-class voters, minority groups, and young people.
Last week, after losing the election, Harris traveled with her husband, Doug Emhoff, to Hawaii for a vacation.
Citing insider sources, POLITICO noted that Harris will head back to Washington, D.C., and is expected to explore “possible paths forward” with family members over the winter holiday season.
“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months,” one former Harris campaign aide told the outlet. “The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.”
If Harris were to campaign for governor of California in 2026, she would be competing to replace Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat who is term-limited and is seen as yet another potential candidate for president in the 2028 contest.
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A number of Democrats have already begun campaigns for California governor, including Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but polling has indicated Harris would have an edge if she ran.
Transgender-identifying celebrity Caitlyn Jenner signaled another GOP bid is possible following a 2021 recall campaign. “If I ran [for governor], and it was ultimately against Harris, I would destroy her,” Jenner said in a post to X on Monday.