Kamala Harris Says She Goes “Back and Forth” on 2028 Run: “There’s So Many Factors”

Breaking

Former Vice President Kamala Harris says she still has not decided whether to run for president in 2028. “I go back and forth. I honestly go back and forth,” Harris told CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere in an interview conducted Oct. 22 in Mississippi, where she was campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom. “There’s so many factors.” She said she did not know whether her indecision would last six months or a year, according to The Epoch Times.

Harris also pushed back on critics, including some in her own party, who want her to stay off the trail. “I’m sure there are many who think that I should just sit at home and eat bonbons and cook Doug’s favorite foods,” she said. “I could cook Doug’s favorite foods and do this.” Her remarks came after a Wall Street Journal report that her husband, Doug Emhoff, privately said he preferred she not run again, according to theGrio.

Details & Background

Harris became the Democratic nominee in 2024 after President Joe Biden dropped out 107 days before Election Day, and she lost to President Donald Trump. She had also run for the 2020 Democratic nomination, ending that campaign before any votes were cast. She still tops polls of Democratic primary voters, especially among Black voters, theGrio reported. Possible rivals include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Raphael Warnock told CNN he is considering a run.

In Mississippi, Harris rallied about 1,000 people at Colom’s hometown high school in Columbus. Colom is challenging Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a state Harris lost in 2024, winning 38% of the vote to Trump’s 60.9%. The Cook Political Report recently moved the race from solid Republican to likely Republican. Harris has also campaigned in Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia, and this week backed Democrat David Crowley in Wisconsin’s governor’s race.

Reactions

Harris framed a potential run as being about service. “If I run, my motivation is not to beat other Democrats. It’s to actually do the job,” she said. “The American people want leaders who aren’t just occupied with looking in the mirror.” She also declined to distance herself from candidates tied to the Democratic Socialists of America, including Florida Senate nominee Angie Nixon. “We are, as we say, a big tent, and I don’t think anybody should be kicked out,” she said.

Not everyone in her party is eager for a rematch. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said, “It’s a free country. If she decides to run, that is her choice,” while arguing that “even if some of those more traditional folks you’ve heard of get in, it just won’t work.” Republicans seized on the Mississippi visit. National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Samantha Cantrell said Colom is “so out of touch with Mississippi that he is campaigning with Kamala Harris, who lost the state by 22 points.”

Why This Matters to You

Harris’s decision matters well beyond her own future. As the party’s most recent nominee and a top name in early polling, her choice will shape whether Democrats turn the page or return to the 2024 ticket that voters rejected. It will also signal how much influence the party’s socialist wing, which she declined to criticize, will have over the Democratic agenda.

For now, Harris is using the midterm campaign trail to stay in the spotlight as Democrats push to win control of Congress on Nov. 3. Voters will decide those races first, and the results will shape the 2028 field. Whatever Harris decides, her refusal to rule out another run ensures the fight over the Democratic Party’s future will continue long after Election Day.