A California Dream? Some Democrats Fear Harris Picked the Wrong Race. [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/us/politics/kamala-harris-california-governor-democrats.html

A California Dream? Some Democrats Fear Harris Picked the Wrong Race.
Some wish Kamala Harris had decided to run for governor in California, where Democrats are struggling to break through, rather than weigh another White House run.
By Jennifer Medina
May 3, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET

The current political math in California goes like this: There are eight candidates running for governor. Only four of them are breaking double digits in polling. And there’s a chance that Democrats could be shut out of the general election entirely in November.

To many Democrats in the reliably liberal state, the calculus seems rather grim. Some can’t help but wonder about a never-was-but-what-if variable: Kamala Harris.

Maybe, they say, she should have run for governor instead of publicly pondering a third run for president.

Sunny Hostin, a co-host of “The View,” recently urged Ms. Harris, the former vice president, to reconsider.

“California, it’s like running a country,” she said on the morning show. “I know that she’s talked about being president — I don’t know if that’s the right position for her — but my goodness, she certainly knows California.”

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