Former Vice President Kamala Harris has an unexpected backer for her highly anticipated run for the governorship of California.
The California Republican Party is backing Harris, because they believe her unpopularity will energize conservative donors and provide a high-profile target for attacks on Democratic Party nepotism and incompetence.
Harris’ office said the former vice president will decide by late summer whether to run for California governor in 2026, when current Governor Gavin Newsom will be term-limited out of office.
While Republicans acknowledge they face long odds in the deep-blue state, GOP candidates and strategists see Harris as the ideal opponent to mobilize their voter base and attract national attention.
“I sense that this is the best shot for someone to be elected statewide in California who’s not a Democrat for at least 20 years, and I think the evident reason for that is the failure of one-party rule,” conservative commentator Steve Hilton said. “The candidate who’s going to win in 2026, regardless of party label, is the change candidate. Kamala Harris is the one who least represents change.”
Hilton has launched his own gubernatorial campaign and told donors in a recent email that Harris embodies the “failures of the past” while warning against a Democratic “coronation” in Sacramento.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, another Republican candidate, said he would “jump for joy” at the opportunity to run against Harris.
“She’s the perfect example of everything Californians are sick of – soft on crime, blind to our problems, and more focused on DC than Main Street,” Bianco told supporters.
Republican strategists believe a Harris candidacy could attract significant out-of-state funding and national attention that would otherwise be absent from an unwinnable race.
“I think it could attract some donors from around the country who might be interested in taking another pound of flesh,” Republican political consultant Dave Gilliard said. “Money is the biggest obstacle other than the registration because the donor world doesn’t think a Republican can be elected governor anymore.”
The prospect of Harris running has also raised speculation about whether tech billionaire Elon Musk might return to the political ring.
Musk has repeatedly clashed with Harris on social media and criticized her support for “woke” politics. Political insiders hope his disdain for Harris could reignite his interest in California politics.
Former California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson acknowledged that no matter the opponent, Republicans face an uphill battle — but said Harris could energize Republicans who would otherwise see the race as hopeless.
“We saw that in congressional races, that whoever was going to run against Speaker McCarthy or Nancy Pelosi or Devin Nunes, these were names that their opponents hated so much that they were able to raise an enormous amount of money,” Patterson said.
Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, currently a special presidential envoy, has said he would likely enter the race if Harris runs, potentially providing Republicans with a higher-profile candidate to tap into the MAGA base.
Republicans plan to use similar attacks to those deployed by President Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign, along with newer accusations on former President Joe Biden’s health cover-up and Harris’s role in hiding Biden’s mental decline from the mainstream media.
Indeed, Trump made inroads in swing districts and significantly reduced Democratic margins in deep-blue cities between 2020 and 2024. Republicans see this as evidence they can build support among Latino voters and centrists concerned about crime, an issue they view as a weakness for Harris.
“She won two statewide elections, and she won in California when she was running for president,” Bianco said. “But those votes didn’t go to Kamala Harris. Those votes went against Donald Trump.”
Indeed, Harris faces a number of political challenges following her 2024 landslide presidential loss to Trump. She underperformed Biden’s 2020 results in California, particularly among Latino voters and in swing counties. Critics within her own party have raised questions about her political viability.
“She’s had her chance,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the far-Left Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Democrats must turn elsewhere for leadership.”
Democratic strategist Eric Jaye also warned against viewing a potential Harris candidacy as inevitable.
“She’s polarizing, and not just with Republicans. Democrats have questions too,” he said.
If Harris runs, she would inherit a state in crisis. California is dealing with a massive $12 billion deficit, worsening wildfires, an unchecked homelessness crisis, and collapsing home insurance markets. Current Governor Newsom himself questioned the appeal of the job during a recent podcast appearance.
“Why the hell would you want this job?” Newsom said on the Next Up with Mark Halperin podcast. “You need a burning ‘why.’ If you can’t enunciate that, don’t do it.”
California’s “jungle primary” system means all candidates compete in a single open primary, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election regardless of party affiliation. This could force Harris into a head-to-head contest with another Democrat rather than a Republican.
Several prominent Democrats are already eyeing the race, including Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former Representative Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. Some are expected to withdraw if Harris enters the race.
Democratic consultant Dan Newman said there are complex political dynamics at play in the upcoming race.
“If she’s beatable (and if she runs), it won’t be by a Republican. But Republicans can still turn her candidacy into a weapon,” Newman said. “For now at least, Republicans can’t win statewide.”
Even if Harris manages to win, Republicans believe they can benefit from months of attacking her record and amplifying broader criticisms of Democratic governance.
“She has a chance to be embarrassed even if she wins,” said GOP consultant Kevin Spillane, who managed Harris’s 2010 attorney general opponent’s campaign. “It could be a Pyrrhic victory.”
Republican consultant Kevin Madden questioned Harris’s political viability and said voters are tired of the same old politicians.
“She’s got the resume — but so do a lot of people who’ve lost,” Madden said. “What she doesn’t have is momentum.”
The gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026.
“This is our shot,” Hilton told supporters about Harris. “She’ll clear the Democratic field, but we’ll get to define her – and she’s already underwater.”