Harris builds political team but leaves 2028 run undecided

Kamala Harris is building a political team while leaving a 2028 bid undecided, with her immediate campaigning focused on November’s elections.

The former vice president has recruited advisers, met donors and supported Democratic candidates in competitive states. Those activities leave room for another presidential campaign, but Harris has made no public commitment to enter the race.

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, has privately expressed a preference that she stay out, according to people familiar with those conversations. Some donors have separately told Harris that another campaign would face difficult odds, people familiar with those exchanges said; her spokesman declined to comment.

A different nomination contest awaits Harris

A campaign for 2028 would be Harris’s third presidential attempt, following her unsuccessful efforts in the previous two election cycles. In 2024, she became the Democratic nominee after Joe Biden withdrew, without having to compete for that nomination through an open primary.

President Trump then defeated her in both the electoral and popular votes. Another Harris candidacy would reopen a choice described by Democrats in the supplied reporting: whether to rally around a familiar nominee or select someone new.

Harris publicly tied her immediate priorities to the midterms at a September event in Michigan hosted by the NAACP. “I have not decided if I’m going to run again,” she said, while emphasizing the importance of the current election cycle.

Emhoff’s reservations do not necessarily establish how he would respond to a campaign announcement. People close to him expect him to support Harris if she runs, while her memoir, “107 Days,” describes both his support and the personal strain surrounding the 2024 race.

Midterm campaigning keeps Harris politically active

Harris’s advisers include chief of staff Candace Bond, previously a US ambassador during Biden’s administration, and recently recruited communications director Eduardo Negrón. Democratic strategist Brian Fallon, who worked on her last presidential campaign, has advised her over the past year.

Her California fundraising appearances have included events supporting David Crowley, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Wisconsin, and Aaron Ford, the party’s gubernatorial nominee in Nevada. She also addressed volunteers on a Democratic National Committee call, encouraging voter outreach across competitive states.

In Michigan, Harris supported Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and efforts to mobilize Black voters. Her schedule there included a discussion of maternal and infant mortality among Black Americans, alongside her NAACP appearance.

Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist who stays in contact with Harris, described those appearances as assistance to candidates who need her. That account places Harris’s activity within the immediate contest for congressional majorities and governorships, rather than treating every appearance as a presidential campaign signal.

Newsom links his decision to Harris

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considering a presidential campaign, said in a September interview that he would not run if Harris entered. He argued that a primary contest between two Californians would benefit their competitors rather than either candidate.

If Harris announces a bid and Newsom maintains that position, her decision would remove one prospective rival from the contest. If she declines, his stated condition would no longer apply, although that would not itself establish that he would run.

Harris’s announced priority remains helping Democrats in November, with Nevada and Georgia among her expected campaign stops. The unresolved decisions are whether she turns that political activity into a presidential bid and whether donors and prospective opponents respond with commitments of their own.