The majority of California Democrats do not want former Vice President Kamala Harris to make another White House run in 2028, according to a UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll released Tuesday.
Almost two-thirds of registered voters in California and 51% of Democrats said Harris should not seek the presidency again following her two failed White House bids in 2020 and 2024, according to the survey. Meanwhile, roughly 45% of California’s registered voters said they were “very” or “somewhat” enthusiastic about the prospect of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom running for president, while 36% said the same about Harris.
“She [Harris] lost, which is always a negative when you’re trying to run again,” Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, which was conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the LA Times, told the outlet. “It’s interesting that even after Harris bowed out of the governor’s race, most Californians don’t really think she should run for president.”
The poll found that nearly 4 in 10 registered voters said they felt uncertain about which candidate they will back in California’s 2026 gubernatorial race. Former California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter received 17% support, while Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was the only other contender in the state’s gubernatorial race who won double-digit support, notching 10% support, according to the poll.
“It’s very unsettled. Most of the voters, the plurality in this poll, are undecided,” DiCamillo told the LA Times. “They don’t really know much about the candidates.”
When respondents were asked to rank their top two picks in the race for California’s governor’s mansion, Porter notched 22% as the first or second choice, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra won 18%, Bianco secured 15% and former Fox News host Steve Hilton received 12%, according to the survey.
California notably conducts all-party primaries for statewide races — with the top two candidates regardless of partisan affiliation advancing to the general election.
“It’s pretty wide-open,” DiCamillo told the LA Times. “And when you look at the second-choice preference, first and second together, it’s bunched together.”
In late July, Harris announced she was passing on a run in California’s upcoming gubernatorial race, further fueling speculation that she is planning to step into the 2028 White House race. A Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab pollreleased Aug. 20 found that Democrats in California would prefer Newsom over Harris in a hypothetical 2028 presidential primary contest featuring both Democrats.
Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons evaded a question on July 30 when Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked him if he would support Harris if she intended to launch a third consecutive presidential bid in 2028. Additionally, radio host Charlamagne tha God appeared to be somewhat unenthused about the prospect of Harris seeking the presidency again in 2028 during a July 31 episode of his radio show, “The Breakfast Club.”
The Berkeley IGS poll surveyed 4,950 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from Aug. 11 to 17. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.
Harris’ office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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