In her absence from the political limelight, Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly been instructing allies to keep her options open for a possible political comeback, spurring speculation about a 2026 California gubernatorial run or even a 2028 repeat bid for the presidency.
Harris, 60, has been adamant with her close confidants that she is “staying in the fight” and plans to mull over her political future with family during the holidays, five sources close to the VP told Politico.
“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months,” one former 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.”
Betting markets have mused that Harris could be viable in the 2028 presidential race, in which both parties are expected to have wide-open contests, though she is lagging behind other Dems such as former first lady Michelle Obama and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
It is uncommon for presidential losers to vie again and make it into the White House, though President-elect Donald Trump did just that on Nov. 5.
The outgoing vice president is the first Democrat to lose the popular vote during a presidential election in more than three decades.
While in office, Harris dipped to one of the lowest favorability ratings of any VP over roughly the same period, with a whopping 49% of registered voters expressing a negative view of her and just 32% of Americans saying they had a positive opinion, an NBC News poll found in June 2023.
One post-election poll from Echelon Insights pegged Harris at 41% in a hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary, trouncing the likes of Newsom (8%), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (7%), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (6%) and others.
While Harris’ old Senate seat has since been filled, Newsom, 57, is term-limited, creating a possible opening for her to run for governor.
“Could she run for governor? Yes. Do I think she wants to run for governor? Probably not. Could she win? Definitely. Would she like the job? I don’t know. Could she run for president again? Yes,” former Harris aide Brian Brokaw equivocated to the outlet.
“Would she have a whole bunch of skepticism from the outset, because she has run in a full-length Democratic primary where [in 2019] she didn’t even make it long enough to be in the Iowa caucus, and then she was the nominee this year?” he went on. “People can learn a lot from their previous adversity, too.”
After conceding defeat to Trump, 78, during a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, Harris has kept a low profile.
Last week, she and second gentleman Doug Emhoff jetted off to Hawaii for a vacation, a dramatic change of pace from the busy campaign season.
With her Aloha State getaway, Harris also skipped the so-called “losers party” at the White House during which donors and insiders converged at the executive mansion over the weekend.
The Golden State Democrat had been abruptly elevated to serve as her party’s standard bearer over the summer following President Biden’s sudden decision to bow out of the race.
She then had about 107 days to take the reins of his campaign effort, which had been underwater in the polls, and reintroduce herself to the American people.
Now that she isn’t up against the clock, Harris is trying to figure out her place within the Democratic Party and map out a game plan for how to respond to Trump’s second stint in the White House.
“There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won’t be a vacuum for long,” a source with close ties to Harris told the outlet.
Prior to departing the Naval Observatory, Harris will have to decide whether to head back to California or set up camp elsewhere.
Harris will also have to preside over the certification of her electoral defeat. Then, six months after Trump is sworn in, Harris’ Secret Service protection will go away.
“She is not someone who makes rash decisions. She takes, sometimes, a painfully long time to make decisions. So I would pretty much guarantee you she has no idea what her next move is,” Brokaw added.
Reps for the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
