The Kamala Conundrum: Governor or President?

Done licking her wounds, Harris says she’s “staying in this fight.”

Does she, or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows. Shirley Polykoff developed that slogan for Clairol’s hair color in 1956. If only she were here to help out Kamala Harris with her own campaigning – and perhaps let us know if the failed presidential candidate is going to take another shot at that brass ring or if she might run for governor of California instead.

Hints and speculation abound as Governor Gavin Newsom is on his last gasp as King of the Golden State. Names are popping up on pundits’ tongues as to who may try and take his place in 2026, but so far, none have offered more than the same tired message: Trump is bad.

Kamala and the Next Step

The former vice president is seriously considering a plausibly final political gambit: either a gubernatorial run in 2026 or another shot at the Oval Office in 2028. As Politico first reported, Harris spoke with the elite Oscar-goers and said she had a deadline on the decision: end of summer. “I am staying in this fight,” she told allies privately, according to the outlet. But which fight? We wait with bated breath to find out.

Oh, to be the president of the United States. Last November saw Harris suffer a humiliating loss to Donald Trump, who won both the popular vote and the electoral college. Overwhelmingly, the American voter said no to her border policies, economic vision, inflation, and woke craziness. Black men weren’t thrilled, and having Barack Obama scold them for a lack of public support didn’t win any over.

Even the Democratic base didn’t choose her. She was handed her spot on Team Biden after washing out of the 2020 election before the primaries. She took over the party’s 2024 ticket, morphing Biden-Harris into Harris-Walz, but only after Biden swept the primaries and then stepped down. Only then was she given top billing. Harris was never the most viable contender, just the one that checked a selection of identity boxes. That hasn’t changed.

The governorship of California certainly has its draw. Who wouldn’t want to be the first woman of color to lead the world’s fifth-largest economy: a globalist’s dream? It may also be the easiest path to achieve success and irritate the Trump administration for the second half of his final term.

Current Competition

As Harris dilly-dallies, other Californians are preparing for potential battle. Former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) declared, as did Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. Both have notable records. Of course, a potential Harris campaign remains the elephant in the room. “What I’ve said and what I’m going to say again today is that I think if Kamala comes into this race, especially if she comes in tomorrow, she comes in now, it’s going to have a near field-clearing effect,” Porter told Jon Lovett on his show, Pod Save America.

“As someone who admires and respects you as a leader and a political figure,” Lovett responded, “I’m surprised you’re not saying, ‘I don’t care what Kamala Harris does. I will be the best governor…’ That’s what’s confusing to me.”

Just the whiff of Harris in the gubernatorial race had other leftists running for cover. Out of the nine Democrats and four Republicans who have launched a bid to become California’s chief executive, only one Democrat seems unafraid of Harris: Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor and former speaker of the California Assembly. All others have scurried aside or failed to commit to staying in the fight should the former VP step into the ring.

Yes, national name recognition is a battleaxe that Harris wields, but it could just as easily prove that becoming a household name might gift the voter a clearer view of a candidate’s failings.

For Kamala, there’s always the third option: Find a lucrative consulting gig on a mega board and be a law firm’s rainmaker. That would likely prove to be the safest bet. Whatever she decides, she had better decide soon.