Political analyst Chuck Todd recently issued a warning to former Vice President Kamala Harris about the potential pitfalls of running for the governorship of California in 2026.
Harris, who is expected to make a decision on her candidacy by the end of summer, may find the race more challenging than anticipated, according to Todd.
As reported by the Daily Caller, Todd's comments came in response to a question from "News Conference" host Conan Nolan about Harris's potential run for governor. Todd expressed his surprise at the prospect, stating, "Boy, I would be shocked if she does. If she wants to run for President in '28, you can't run for governor of California in '26. So I do think if she runs for governor, she's made the decision she's not running."
Todd also pointed out the difficulties a conventional Democrat might face in securing the governorship after two decades of single-party control. "Here'd be my warning to any conventional Democrat running for governor of California in '26: Go look at the track record of any political party trying to win a governorship for basically for 20 straight years," he said. "It doesn't happen very often, right? And so this is 16 straight years of Democratic governance in California. It's the longest, I think, going back nearly a hundred years."
The political analyst further argued that Harris's long-standing political career could potentially work against her. He suggested that voters might be looking for an outsider, and Harris, with her extensive political background, might struggle to sell herself as a candidate for change. "Governor is the one place where voters won't always vote their jersey color, and I think voters are going to be looking for somebody from the outside," Todd said. "And I think that Harris somebody who's the former vice president, former U.S. senator, former district attorney in San Francisco how does she sell change? She's got to somehow run against Gavin Newsom's governorship."
Todd's skepticism about Harris's potential candidacy is shared by political analyst Mark Halperin. In December, Halperin suggested that Harris would face a tough battle, whether she chooses to run for president again or decides to enter the race for California governor. "I think her chance[s] of being governor of California are greater than being the Democratic nominee, but I don't think they're as great as people say, because again, her challenge is her weakness," Halperin said. "She does not like to make difficult choices under pressure, and that is the job description for running for governor of California, being governor of California, running for president, being president."
Halperin also questioned whether Harris truly wants to be governor of California, given the current challenges associated with the role. "It's not a great job right now, and so why she'd run and risk losing, and then if she did win, get the job I'm not really sure," he said.
Harris's political career has been marked by significant challenges. In the 2020 presidential race, she lost all seven swing-states and the popular vote to President Donald Trump. During the Democratic primary, she secured only 844 votes and failed to gain any delegates, according to archived election data. These past setbacks, coupled with the potential challenges outlined by Todd and Halperin, suggest that Harris's political future may be fraught with difficulties.
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