California Democrats uncertain about Kamala Harris' potential run for governor

Fox News

02-06-2025

Some California Democrats are unsure about former Vice President Kamala Harris launching a gubernatorial bid in her home state following her loss to President Donald Trump, according to reports.
"I think she'd be fine. I mean, she's already been a state leader, right?" Denise Robb, a Democratic Party delegate from Pasadena, told the Washington Post. "It's just that she lost the presidential race and she's been almost — gone. We don't hear from her. We don't see her."
The Post and The New York Times reported on Sunday that activists and delegates within the party weren't all in on the former vice president, who has held statewide office in California before as attorney general and a U.S. senator. Harris delivered a 3-minute video speech at a gathering of thousands of California Democrats over the weekend, with other gubernatorial candidates in attendance.
"I don't think she should get into the campaign for governor," Mark Gracyk, a delegate from San Diego, told the Times. "The working class would say, 'Oh there she is again, she has the support of the elites.'"
The former vice president has made a handful of public appearances since her 2024 election loss, including a speech that criticized Trump's first 100 days in office in early May.
Amanda Day, a delegate from Merced, told the Post that her support for Harris in the 2024 election didn't automatically mean she would support the former VP for governor, should she choose to run. Day also noted that Harris' past as a state attorney general might cause a problem for her.
"I liked her as a presidential candidate, but it was a different job," Day said. "Coming back to California is a whole other story. She has history here."
Ayo Banjo, a delegate from Santa Cruz, told the Times that she wanted to understand where Harris stands right now.
"I wonder where her priorities are, and where she's at right now," Banjo said. "I do support her and think that she's great, but right now I have more questions than answers."
Former Democratic lawmaker Katie Porter, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are among the other Democrats who have launched a bid for California governor.
Villaraigosa has charged that Harris and Becerra, who both served in the Biden administration, were involved in a cover-up of Biden's decline while in office, citing the new book, "Original Sin," which delves into the scandal.
"Now, we have come to learn this cover-up includes two prominent California politicians who served as California Attorney General – one who is running for Governor and another who is thinking about running for Governor," he said in a statement.
"Those who were complicit in the cover-up should take responsibility for the part they played in this debacle, hold themselves accountable, and apologize to the American people. I call on Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra to do just that – and make themselves available to voters and the free press because there's a lot of questions that need to be answered," Villaraigosa continued.
Harris is set to decide her next move by the end of the summer.
Former Vice President Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.