Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for governor of California next year, forgoing a quick comeback just two years after losing the presidency.
In a statement Wednesday, Harris said she would remain on the sidelines.
“I love this state, its people, and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election,” Harris said.
“For now,” she added, “my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office. I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plan.”
Harris, the first woman to hold the vice presidency and the first woman to to win election as California’s attorney general, would have added a new first to her list: California has never elected a female governor.
Harris’s exit from the 2026 race will spur speculation that she is considering mounting a third consecutive bid for president. Early polls, more a gauge of name recognition than solid support, show Harris near the front of the Democratic field alongside the man she would have vied to replace, term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Both Newsom and Buttigieg have engaged in the so-called invisible primary, stumping for other Democrats and showing up at fundraisers in key early battleground states, along with as many as a dozen other Democrats said to be interested in the presidency.
Harris, though, has not made many public appearances. Her name recognition and the organization she built through her two previous runs for president affords her more time out of the spotlight than other, lesser-known candidates.
She seemed to hint at a future in public service, albeit with a different strategy after her 2024 presidential campaign came under scrutiny.
“As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking — committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook,” Harris said.
In California, Harris’s decision puts a renewed spotlight on a crowded field that had lined up to run to replace Newsom.
Former Assembly Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D), former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D), former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D), Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond (D), former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) and former Controller Betty Yee (D) are already in the race. So are conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R).
The top two vote-getters in the March 2026 all-party primary will advance to next year’s general election.
Harris’s indecision loomed large over the race, as some candidates openly contemplated quitting if she entered. Villaraigosa urged her to skip the race, while Bianco said he relished the thought of running against her.