During the first 100 days of President Trump's new term, Kamala Harris drifted into the depression of political defeat, returning to her hometown in Los Angeles. She pondered her thoughts and pondered whether she would run for governor of California, but she said little about the president.
The former vice president returned to the conversation in affirmation of democratic frustration in a speech that Camp called for as the broadest statement since leaving Washington after losing his bid for the White House.
She warned that if the courts and Congress fail to confront the president, or that the president is nevertheless at risk of a constitutional crisis.
“It's a crisis that will ultimately affect everyone,” she said. “That's because rules that protect our fundamental rights and freedoms mean that each of us will have a say in how our government works.”
Harris' 16-minute address covered familiar grounds that other Democrats had issued alarms for months. She was in friendly range in San Francisco. There, I spoke to an organization that launched a political career as a district lawyer over 20 years ago and lifted up Democratic women who were in office.
“It's great to be at home,” Harris said as he began his speech under the chandelier in the hotel's ballroom.
This is a calculated return and was streamed for public consumption on Instagram and YouTube. Harris is expected to decide whether to run for California governor in 2026 by the end of the summer.
She admitted to joking at one point, joking, “Everyone is asking me.”
Harris's careful approach has long defined her political brand, but lacked the fire brand style that other Democrat leaders are increasingly being used to elicit the frustration that voters feel after the first three months of Trump's presidency.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pretzker urged New Hampshire Democrats to “fight anywhere, anywhere” in this week's speech, which was considered an early shot with the 2028 bow. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York president Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attracted massive crowds to “combat Oligarchy” rallies in Los Angeles and Denver, and toured Republican districts to fire sympathetic voters.
Harris paid tribute to Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats who have been opposed to Trump in recent weeks. She said that if the courts and Congress fail, the American people must serve as the ultimate check of the administration.
Elsewhere in her speech, Harris said she witnessed “a rapid implementation of decades of agenda” at the hands of Republicans. It wasn't that mixed chaos, she suggested, it was part of the plan all along.
“It's an agenda, a narrow, selfish vision for America, and I'll punish the True Terror, support the Loyalists, acquire their power, and leave myself to dodge everyone else,” Harris said. “As abandoning allies and retreat from the world.”
While she weighed her options, Harris called from Democrats who wanted her advice when they considered running for office, her spokesperson Kirsten Allen said.
So far, Harris has brought her political deliberations very close to her best. Since Richard Nixon returned to California to run for governor in 1962, Harris has not been operating on her own timetable.
The leading Democratic candidates are on the roster to speak on the California Labor Federation and the California Democratic Party's upcoming treaties, but Harris has no plans to attend either of them. Some long-time California supporters said they hadn't heard of her in months.
“We've been working hard to get into the world,” said Mark Buell, a leading Democrat donor who lives in San Francisco and has supported Harris for decades.
Buell was the finance committee chair in his first campaign in 2003. Harris became the first woman to compete against the incumbent district attorney in San Francisco and win that office. The race urged Harris' supporters to form an organization called Emelge, recruiting, training women from the Democratic Party and entering politics. Her speech in San Francisco on Wednesday was the group's 20th anniversary ceremony.
Over half of the state has female governors, but California is a trendsetter in so many ways, and not among them. The 2026 race has several women running, including two people who attended Harris' speech on Wednesday. Harris' longtime friend, Lt. Col. Eleni Kunarakis, and former Orange County councillor Katie Porter.
“The Vice President will make a decision when he's ready, and I'm sure she'll let us know in some way,” said Porter, who observed late last year that Harris could have the effect of resolving field wars among Democrats running for the governor.
Still, Porter said she was on hand to run her campaign.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is banned by period restrictions from running for reelection, so the competition to take over him has brought together a large area of ​​candidates. Among them are Democrats Xavier Beterra, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Biden, and former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigoza.
So far, the two prominent Republicans are former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. After Harris' speech, Hilton issued a statement calling on her to take part in the race, “Stop Dilly Daly.”
“You were a disaster as a presidential candidate. You'll defend the disaster of California's Democratic control,” he said. “I can't wait to have a real policy discussion with you.”
Harris could change the shape of the race if she decides to enter it. Her candidacy could result in some Democrats being dropped, but it urges more Republicans to jump into the opportunity to stand up to Democrats who have lost to Mr. Trump.
