Former VP Kamala Harris Consults With Hillary Clinton On Possible Governor Run In 2026

According to new reports from the Telegraph, former Vice President Kamala Harris is now consulting with former Senator and fellow Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over a potential run for Governor of California.

While Harris has consulted on several other lawmakers and donors on whether she should run for Governor or not, including former President Joe Biden and former Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Harris consulting with Clinton shows that she is getting serious for either a 2026 gubernatorial run or having another crack at the presidency in 2028. In both cases, there would be no sitting incumbent to worry about.

Since leaving the Vice Presidency in January, Harris’ next political run has loomed over both Sacramento and Washington. Aides and close friends have hinted at Harris running for both in the past several months, with Harris herself only saying that her decision on running for Governor would come by the end of the summer. However, in recent calls to supporters, that timeframe may be moved up by several months as the number of experienced candidates with electoral experience grows in the Golden State.

So far, the list of declared candidates includes former Congresswoman Katie Porter,  Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former California Attorney General and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), Former State Controller Betty Yee, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Diamond Resorts founder Stephen Cloobeck. In addition, Republicans have a few major candidates in the race so far as well, including Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Complicating matters are the wide array of speculative candidates still out there. Both Porter and Kounalakis have said that they would drop out of the race should Harris enter, while many Republicans, like Special Presidential Envoy and former Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell, have said that they would enter the race should she run.

Harris-Clinton

Harris consulting with Clinton is also an indication that she still wants to stay relevant post-election, something Clinton dealt with post-2016 and ultimately kept her from running for office again. Last week, Harris said “I’m not going anywhere” and bashed President Donald Trump publicly for the first time after the 2024 election.

And relevancy is critical if Harris wishes to run next year. Early polls showed that Harris was the strong favorite among potential and declared candidates, with a November 2024 poll and a February 2025 poll showing her with 72% and 57% support amongst Democrats, and the November poll showing 46% support across all political leanings. However, thanks in part to Porter entering the race, Harris slipped to second in polling. According to a March 2025 poll, Harris was now down by five points to Porter.

While Clinton could help solidify some scattered Democrats in California for Harris and could help prepare her against GOP candidates who are Trump supporters including Bianco and Grenell, she wouldn’t help where Harris is weakest. That includes the male vote (41% voted for Clinton in 2016, 44% for Harris in 2024), the all-too-important-to-California Latino vote (where the GOP saw a 14 point jump in support from 2016 to 2024), and the centrist/moderate Democrat vote, who have have been hard to convince of Democratic candidates in the past decade.

According to the telegraph, Harris is currently looking into Trump’s media blitz and appearance on several podcasts in the 2024 election, seeing that model as helping modernize the party and run a more modern campaign. This could possibly include an appearance on current Governor Gavin Newsom’s “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast, something which has gained national attention in the past month. Tellingly, Harris is currently watching Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz’s current media tour for how she may conduct her own in the future, with one of Walz’s stops being an appearance on Newsom’s podcast.

In any case, the inclusion of Clinton as a consultant is polarizing. While many Democrats are happy to see different members of the party formerly at odds with each other now supporting one another, others are now turned away from possibly supporting Harris because of the baggage Clinton brings.