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Kamala Harris reveals timetable for making major political decision in deep blue state

Kamala Harris reveals timetable for making major political decision in deep blue state

Fox News07-03-2025

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is setting a timetable to make a major decision about her political future.
Harris, who lost last November's White House election to now-President Donald Trump, is seriously considering a 2026 bid to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
Additionally, a source in the former vice president's political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital that Harris has told allies she will decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a gubernatorial campaign. The news was first reported by Politico.
There has been plenty of speculation since last year's election regarding Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nominee last summer after he dropped out of the race amid mounting questions over his physical and mental stamina.
The two potential options for Harris are launching a gubernatorial run next year in her home state or seeking the presidency again in 2028. Extremely early polls in the next Democratic Party presidential nomination race - which are heavily reliant on name recognition at this point - indicate that the former vice president holds a significant lead over other potential White House contenders.
It is very unlikely she could do both. Running and winning election in 2026 as governor of heavily blue California, the nation's most populous state and home to the world's fifth-largest economy, would likely take a 2028 White House run off the table, allies and political analysts have indicated.
Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and represented the Golden State in the U.S. Senate before joining Biden's 2020 ticket and winning election as vice president.
While no decisions have been made, the former vice president has vowed to remain politically involved.
Harris, in a video message to the Democratic National Committee, as it huddled for its winter meeting a month ago, pledged to be with the party "every step of the way."
She recently spoke at the NAACP Image Awards, as she accepted the organization's Chairman's Award. This weekend, she is headed to Las Vegas - Nevada is an early-voting state in the presidential primary calendar and a key general election battleground - to speak at Human X, which is an AI-themed conference.
If Harris decides this summer to launch a gubernatorial campaign, she would likely clear much of the field of Democrats.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month he would support Harris if she decides to run and that "she would be field-clearing" if she launched a campaign.
Bonta, a former state lawmaker who has served as California attorney general since 2021, said he would run for re-election next year rather than launch a gubernatorial campaign, putting to rest speculation about his next political moves.
"Kamala Harris would be a great governor," Bonta said in an interview with Politico.
Among the more than half-dozen Democratic Party candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis - a Harris ally - and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.
Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.
Many of the current or potential candidates would likely stand aside if Harris entered the race.
Among the Republicans, longtime Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president's second administration, last month floated a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs.
"If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it's a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot," Grenell said.
Meanwhile, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco last month announced his Republican candidacy for governor.
Additionally, former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a GOP gubernatorial bid.
In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.
It has been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in California, back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election victory.

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Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump's long-shot effort to fight hush money conviction

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Mike Braun is failing Indiana, yet wants to be president
Mike Braun is failing Indiana, yet wants to be president

Indianapolis Star

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  • Indianapolis Star

Mike Braun is failing Indiana, yet wants to be president

Mike Braun hated being a U.S. senator and left after one failed term. Now, he's not quite six months into a failing term as Indiana governor, and he's already looking for his next job. Politico's Adam Wren reports Braun is discussing a run for president in 2028, the strongest signal yet that he is as delusional as he is inept. Here's Braun's record as governor so far: He over-promised a massive property tax cut and couldn't deliver. It won't get better from here. The economy is worsening, which means Braun is likely to oversee an era of increasingly draconian budget cuts, rising unemployment and accelerated decline in rural areas. That is not the stuff of presidential campaigns. Put aside Braun's botched first legislative session. Presidents need to be good at politics. Braun is bad at politics. Braun didn't have the political acumen to stop Micah Beckwith's lieutenant governor nomination last year, but he thinks he can navigate a presidential primary? Does he know that other people will be running? Briggs: Jim Banks would let Trump commit any crime you can imagine Braun's fiasco at last year's Indiana Republican Party convention saddled him with a lieutenant governor who overshadows him at every turn and is openly opposing him. Remember, President Trump actually endorsed Braun's preferred running mate, state Rep. Julie McGuire, and it didn't matter. Beckwith won anyway because Indiana's populist right views Beckwith as authentic and Braun and his team as MAGA cosplayers. Beckwith's outsized presence has forced Braun into errors, such as making the ill-advised property tax promise and then doubling down on it at a Beckwith-headlined rally where Braun was the third wheel. Braun lacks principles and objectives, so he operates as a copycat politician. But he doesn't actually understand why figures such as Trump or Beckwith are successful, so he offers awkward imitations and looks pathetic. Yes, Braun has won big elections. He ran an exceptional campaign for U.S. Senate in 2018 and then lucked his way through an overcrowded and underwhelming GOP primary field for governor last year before winning in November. Despite all that winning, he doesn't have a single substantive achievement to serve as a foundation for a presidential run. He doesn't even have a lame culture war win. Braun is a sad man in a blue shirt who can't appreciate any of his business or electoral success because he's always looking for the next big, powerful job to give his life meaning. There is no national demand for someone like this to run for president. Braun is not going to be president. What's worse, Braun also won't be much of a governor. Who do you know who excels at a job they don't want? Braun is bored with being governor, just like he got bored early in his Senate term. We're stuck for three and a half years with someone who pursued the governor's office for a dopamine rush and now would prefer to be elsewhere. Briggs: Diego Morales is rubbing our faces in his corruption. Impeach him now. Braun checking out on Indiana was entirely predictable. Why did he want to be a senator? Why did he want to be governor? Why does he want to be president? I'm genuinely asking. As far as I can tell, Braun has no theory of government external to his own ambitions. He runs for office for the sake of running for office. Unlike when Braun was a non-factor in the Senate, Hoosiers will notice him checking out now. Braun is not even a sure thing to win a second term as governor, should he decide to run, much less a top-tier contender for the presidency. The only thing ahead for Braun, 71, is retirement. He can either come up with something productive to do and try to leave a lasting impact on Indiana, or keep doing TV hits and signing inconsequential executive orders to look busy. Either way, his presidential ambition is a fantasy. The most pitiful thing about Braun is he'll be the last person to figure that out.

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