Former Obama adviser David Axelrod said on Wednesday that former Vice President Kamala Harris is likely prepping for another White House run, saying she would start as “the polling leader” in the Democratic Party primary.
Harris announced Wednesday she would not run for governor of California next year, a possible political path she could’ve pursued after she lost the 2024 presidential election. Axelrod said he is not “particularly surprised” at Harris’s decision, saying running for governor would be “a step back” for her.
Axelrod also said Harris ran for president in 2020 and again as the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2024, and said it is “clear” she is “setting herself up” for another run in 2028.
“And Kaitlan, she will begin as the polling leader in any race for president, just by having been the nominee of the last time. But a lot of Democrats want to turn the page on all of that and look forward, and so it‘s not going to be easy for her,” Axelrod said on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
Axelrod said a 2026 gubernatorial run in California wouldn’t be “a slam dunk” for Harris, and losing that race would spell the end of her political career.
Harris is set for her first post-2024 election interview Thursday evening on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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Harris also announced Thursday a new book about her 107-day campaign for president. The former vice president said she’s spent “a lot of time reflecting” on her run, and wrote a book on her “behind-the-scenes account.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Harris’s running mate in the 2024 cycle, said on July 17 that he is not considering running for president in 2028. However, he said he is doing “all I can” to build the Democratic Party and ensure its next presidential nominee wins.