Losing the 2024 election to Donald Trump may not be the only political loss for Kamala Harris.
According to a new poll from a Democratic firm, the former vice president “could face an uphill climb” if she decides to run for governor of California.
Per the poll, “Only 35% of likely primary voters think it is a good idea for her to run for governor.”
“Some poll numbers zipping around California from Democratic firm Impact Research showing that Kamala Harris for governor isn’t a sure thing at all,” veteran reporter Peter Hamby posted to X.
Former Democratic U.S. House member Katie Porter announced Tuesday that she is entering the 2026 contest for California governor, joining a crowded field of candidates that could be upended if Harris joins the race.
Porter, who became a social media celebrity by brandishing a white board at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs, promised in a campaign launch video to be an aggressive counterweight to Trump’s administration at a time when the heavily Democratic state has clashed with the White House over issues from water management to immigrant rights.
The contest to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom already has lured a large scrum of announced and likely candidates that would be reshuffled if Harris decides to seek the state’s top office.
Harris, a former state attorney general and U.S. senator, has not ruled out seeking the governorship since she left Washington in January after a failed presidential bid. Porter is friendly with the former vice president and has indicated she would step aside if Harris joins the race. In 2012, Harris, then California’s attorney general, appointed Porter to be the state’s independent bank monitor in a multibillion-dollar nationwide mortgage settlement.
If Harris gets in the race “there are very few politicians who would want to take her on,” Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney told The Associated Press. “She’d be likely to win the Democratic nomination, and Democrats are likely to win the governorship.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
