Kamala Is the Presidential Favorite

So why isn’t she endorsing a candidate for California governor?

James Freeman

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James Freeman

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May 4, 2026 3:05 pm ET

A new Harvard/Harris poll finds that former Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up a significant lead in the race for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Ms. Harris is the choice of 50% of Democrats surveyed, while her next closest competitor, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.), gets the nod from just 22% of the donkeys. Bringing up the rear is a cast of characters each polling in single digits. Oddly, this new presidential polling momentum for Ms. Harris arrives just as some Democrats wonder out loud if she really should be running for governor of California. A Monday announcement makes one wonder if Ms. Harris is among them.

Alexei Koseff reports for the San Francisco Chronicle:

Former Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a slate of endorsements Monday ahead of California’s June primary, but she’s steering clear of the governor’s race where anxious Democrats have been trying to winnow a crowded field to avoid being locked out of the top two.

Ms. Harris issued endorsements in the races for state treasurer, attorney general and controller and mayor of Los Angeles. But she declined to endorse in the one race where her party is desperate to have at least one Democrat surge to new heights of popularity. The desperation comes from the fact that California does not have partisan primaries. All candidates compete in an open primary and the top two finishers, regardless of party, move on to face each other in the fall general election. Mr. Koseff explains the source of Democratic angst:

The governor’s race… has attracted an unusually large number of Democratic hopefuls. Even after several high-profile exits, six prominent current or former elected officials are still running, raising fears they could split the vote and allow two top-polling Republicans to advance to the runoff in November.

A Harris endorsement could create a clear frontrunner, or at least nearly guarantee a top-two finisher. Surely she wouldn’t want her party to lose political control of the Golden State.

Is it possible that Ms. Harris is not endorsing because she’s contemplating her own potential as a write-in candidate?

She wouldn’t be the only one. Jennifer Medina writes at the New York Times about the California gubernatorial race:

Some can’t help but wonder about a never-was-but-what-if variable: Kamala Harris.

Maybe, they say, she should have run for governor instead of publicly pondering a third run for president…

The governor’s race, they say, would have been a better bet.

“She would have been good at it, and it would have been a good job for her,” said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank based in Washington. “It would have been good for Democrats everywhere.”…

On the other hand, Mr. Bennett said, she would enter the presidential race “with a real burden” of defending the past.

“It’s conceivable that she could craft a message,” he added, “but she’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

That’s for sure. She would have so much to explain about the Biden era, in fact, that she might be better off not trying to explain anything to anyone. Daniel Miller writes in Politico:

Kamala Harris’ new $8.15 million Malibu home sits on a hill overlooking bougainvillea-dusted streets that sweep down toward the surf — a secluded idyll in a neighborhood of defensive shrubbery and eccentric statuary, where surveillance cameras swivel and the quiet feels carefully curated.

It is, in other words, the perfect place to get away for a while. Which is exactly how many of her new neighbors see it, too.

Amid all the speculation about whether Harris will again run for president, her move is regarded here — in her new celebrity-laden enclave — not as a launching pad, but as a sign of retreat.

“People usually come to Point Dume to try to downshift,” said Or Brodsky, the listing agent on a nearly 12,000-square-foot rental near Harris’ new digs — yours for $69,500 a month. “I think she’s planning to have more days with her feet in the sand.”

Sounds very nice, and one can certainly understand why the coastal enclave is so expensive. Politico quotes another local real estate agent named Branden Williams:

Williams — who touted one of his recent sales by teasing, “Google it; I have an NDA” — had thoughts on why Harris and so many other notables have bought homes near Point Dume. “It’s very powerful land — the Chumash Indians used to converge right here,” he said.

Oh dear. Given that the area is full of voters who chose Kamala Harris for president in 2024, isn’t it just a matter of time before someone starts demanding that Ms. Harris make a land acknowledgment? Then somebody might ask for more than an empty virtue signal. Pretty soon we could be talking about real money.

Perhaps Ms. Harris should run for president again to get away from it all and enjoy the company of midwesterners.

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