This year I’ve emphasized a recurring point in the Morning Jolt and elsewhere that Kamala Harris, an alleged potential candidate to be the next governor of California, doesn’t seem all that focused on, or interested in, state issues. And it’s not exactly been a quiet year for the Golden State – wildfires burning down a chunk of Los Angeles, riots and urban unrest, a predictable budget crisis, etcetera. The fact that Harris isn’t talking much about state issues makes it hard to believe that she is filled with burning desire to run the state government’s executive branch for four to eight years.
Politico notes, to no one’s surprise, that in the circles of California’s big-time Democratic donors, “no one is incredibly pumped.”
In interviews, several major donors in the state told POLITICO they fear her reemergence as a candidate would re-open still-fresh wounds from her defeat in 2024. Some harbor lingering frustration about how her billion-dollar campaign juggernaut ended in debt and want assurances she would have a clear plan to win the governor’s mansion. Others are impatient for Harris to start publicly making her case for why she’d want the job.
One California Democrat who contributed six-figures to her presidential bid said a Harris candidacy would only serve as a reminder of how “traumatizing” the last election was.
“Kamala just reminds you we are in this complete s*** storm. With Biden, we got bamboozled … I think she did the best she could in that situation, but obviously she knew about the cognitive decline too,” the donor said. “I’ve written so many checks because I knew the Trump administration would be horrible, but we’re living in a nightmare because of the Democrats. I’m furious at them, truly.”
Deeper in the article, there’s this curious detail:
Harris is sticking with her late-summer deadline, though she has put a finer point on her season of decision-making. One key milestone is a planned July vacation — her first getaway since leaving office — where allies hope some time away to decompress and tune out will help clarify her thinking.
Her first vacation since leaving office? What has she been doing? Because it hasn’t been making many public appearances, doing a single interview, or attending the California Democratic Party convention. She’s been about as accessible as J.D. Salinger, which is something of an odd choice if you want to win a gubernatorial primary held on June 2, 2026.
Then, in the 31st paragraph, Politico mentions:
She is keenly interested in how supporters are feeling and what their top concerns are for the state, where she hasn’t lived full-time in nearly 10 years.
Presumably, this is referring to Harris beginning her Senate work in January 2017; she and her husband Doug Emhoff purchased a condo in the Westlight building for $1.775 million later that year.
Now, it’s not that rare for senators and congressmen to run for governor, and obviously they still spend time in their home states. But expect some Harris rival to observe, “The last time Kamala Harris lived here in California full-time, Barack Obama was president, the U.K. was in the European Union, and David Bowie, Prince, and Harambe were alive.”
Andrew Cuomo fell short in the New York City mayoral primary in part because he couldn’t articulate a convincing case of why he was the right choice to save a city with gargantuan looming problems. The subtext of his campaign seemed to be that he wanted to get back into politics, and he believed becoming mayor was the path of least resistance.
Why should Kamala Harris become the next governor of California? Does she have a plan to tackle the state’s budget problems, exorbitant cost of living in many places, exodus of high earners and business owners? As I wrote earlier this year, evaluating the record of current governor Gavin Newsom:
U.S. News and World Report ranks each state on a wide variety of categories. In the most recent assessment, California ranked dead last in opportunity, dead last in affordability, 47th in employment, 47th in energy infrastructure, 46th in air and water quality, 45th in growth, 42nd in public safety, 42nd in short-term fiscal stability, and 37th in K–12 education. The Tax Foundation ranks California 48th in its most recent State Tax Competitiveness Index. For five straight years, California has ranked highest in people moving out of the state, according to U-Haul’s data. BankRate found California was the 47th-best state for retirement. California ranks fifth-worst in roads and third-worst in drivers, second-highest in accident rate, and second-worst in drunk driving.
Does Harris have an argument for why she’s the right person for the state’s voters to entrust with the massive task of turning the state around? Or is it just that Californians are supposed to treat their state government as a consolation prize for not winning the presidency in 2024?