Vice President Kamala Harris has spent much of the past week in Hawaii after losing the presidential election earlier this month and is possibly laying the groundwork for a political comeback.
Harris has told allies and friends that she is “staying in the fight” and is keeping open the possibility of running for governor of California in 2026 or president in 2028, according to a report from Politico.
The outgoing vice president is set to use the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season to decide on her next steps, beginning with her escape from Washington, D.C., to the Aloha State this past week. The report also claims she will speak out against President-elect Donald Trump, who defeated her in all seven swing states in the election less than three weeks ago, and reaffirm herself as the Democratic Party’s leader.
“There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won’t be a vacuum for long,” a person close to Harris said.
Harris will still have two public events before she leaves the Naval Observatory on Jan. 20, 2025. She will oversee the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, which will affirm her loss to Trump, along with her departure from the vice presidency on Jan. 20.
The vice president has not said if she will attend the inauguration, but it is customary for the outgoing president and vice president to do so. Trump did not attend President Joe Biden and Harris’s January 2021 inauguration, but Trump’s then-Vice President Mike Pence did attend the ceremony.
Harris would be a top contender for the governor’s race in the Golden State or if she seeks the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. She has won three statewide races in California, two for state attorney general and one for Senate, along with defeating Trump, 58.6%-38.2%, in her home state earlier this month.
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released prior to the presidential election showed that 33% of voters overall and 54% of Democratic voters in the Golden State said they would be very likely to consider Harris if she were to run for governor in the crowded Democratic field in 2026.
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For the 2028 Democratic primary, a poll released by Puck News-Echelon Insights earlier this month shows Harris leading a field of various possible contenders with 41%. Other possible candidates listed include Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Josh Shapiro (D-PA), with 8% and 7%, respectively.
When Harris leaves the vice presidency early next year, it will be the first time since she was sworn in as San Francisco district attorney in January 2004 that she will be out of elected office.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
