California just isn’t a comfort prize for dropping the presidency, and a Kamala Harris run for governor isn’t going to encourage an citizens that’s fed up with the Democratic Get together’s staid-and-afraid establishment.
That being mentioned, if Harris is going to run for governor of California — good God, get on with it already.
The previous Vice President just lately set an unofficial deadline to announce by “the end of summer” — however wasn’t particular a few explicit date. (What precisely is the “end of summer,” anyway? The final 100-degree day? The final pitch of an MLB recreation?) However these “will she or won’t she” video games belong to a homecoming queen race, not a gubernatorial one.
“I could make all sorts of arguments for her and why she should and could do any number of other things,” Brian Brokaw, a Democratic political guide who served because the supervisor for Harris’ profitable campaigns for California Legal professional Basic and for Senate. “(But) if there’s one thing I know about her, it’s that she doesn’t care what the rest of us think. She is going to make up her own mind.”
Truthful level. However I’m fairly positive operating for political workplace means it’s a must to care a teeny tiny bit about what different individuals consider you.
Poster little one of defeat
And, the disillusionment of California voters with the Democratic Get together begins with the humiliating loss final November — for which Harris is the poster little one.
“There’s a torrent of discontent in the (Democratic) party,” Mike Madrid, a former political director for the California Republican Get together who’s at the moment consulting for Stephen Cloobeck, a time-share billionaire and outsider Democratic candidate who’s operating for California governor in 2026.
“They want a different message and messenger,” Madrid mentioned. “(California is) disaffected by the majority party … It’s materializing as low voter turnout, or being civically-engaged at all. They don’t believe that the Democratic Party is doing anything to benefit them, (and) I think the elected politicians are having a hard time gaining traction.”
So I see why some Republicans should be salivating on the concept of one other Harris run in California. They beat her as soon as already, although doing it in her residence state that went blue by 58% could be considerably harder.
In the meantime, prime Dems who’ve already declared their intentions — together with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former state Controller Betty Yee and state colleges Superintendent Tony Thurmond would doubtless step apart if Harris lastly pulled the set off on a run.
However neither has Harris’ attainable inclusion completely cleared the sector: Former Legal professional Basic Xavier Becerra and former mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa have mentioned they’d keep within the race, regardless. And each former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter and former state Senate chief Toni Atkins just lately introduced they’d keep in, too; the latter saying in a press release that, “while the vice president has her own path, our campaign is moving full speed ahead.”
In actual fact, I believe a few of them are literally hoping she’s going to, to allow them to bow out of the race gracefully with out trying like they fumbled the bag in asserting too quickly. (Lookin’ at you, Eleni!)
If Harris was going to throw her hat within the ring, she ought to have carried out it by now to try to capitalize on a number of the anger that Californians felt within the rapid aftermath of the final election. Now we’re simply drained and unhappy, and neither of these feelings is a superb begin for a candidate, even when “real human beings” attentions aren’t but on the November 2026 race.
“Not a single real human being is talking about the governor’s race coming up in 2026, it is so far from the lens of almost every single voter,” Brokaw mentioned. “It’s not a surprise there isn’t a swirl of excitement about any candidate for governor, much less Harris for governor.”
Laying low
Californians want somebody to get enthusiastic about and nobody is especially excited a few Harris run. Nor can we need to see her use California governorship as a springboard to a different presidential run in 2028. We’d like a frontrunner who cares about California values and main us within the struggle towards Donald Trump’s second administration. Porter particularly reveals the eagerness to stay up for the state, however I’m not deeply in favor of anybody simply but.
All I find out about Harris is that anybody who cares about it sufficient to marvel is getting uninterested in ready for her — and that doubtless consists of some large, large donors.
Robin Epley is a Sacramento Bee columnist. ©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Distributed by Tribune Content material Company.
