Harris Tops Poll for California Governor, Voters Split on Bid

After her failed 2024 presidential run, former Vice President Kamala Harris has not ruled out running for governor of California in 2026. While her near-universal name recognition makes her the current frontrunner, the latest poll indicates that there is still room for another contender to gain ground in the gubernatorial contest.

The poll, conducted by The Hill/Emerson College from April 12-14 with 1,000 respondents, found that for the June 2026 primary, Harris is currently leading a slate of hypothetical candidates with 31%. 

However, voters were evenly split on whether she should run for governor, with 50% saying she should and 50% saying she should not. Among Democrats, 74.7% said she should run, but among independents, 64.5% said she should not. Even 24.4% of voters who voted for Harris in the 2024 presidential election said they did not want her to run for governor.

Harris wouldn’t be the first former vice president to run for governor after losing a presidential race. Richard Nixon, who served as vice president from 1953 to 1961, lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy and then ran for governor of California in 1962. He was defeated by Democrat Pat Brown, 52% to 47%.

The next closest contender was former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2024 but finished third in the primary behind Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey. Porter, who announced in March that she would run for governor, trailed Harris with just 8%. Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was next, receiving 4% in the poll. The largest share of respondents, 39%, said they were undecided.

Another significant potential contender, especially if Harris does not run, is Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who has served in that role since 2019. Although she launched her campaign in 2023, she received only 2% support in the poll. In 2015, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a similar early move, opening a campaign committee to begin fundraising in February 2015 – three years before the gubernatorial election.

As in the rest of the country, the economy will be a top issue in California’s 2026 gubernatorial election. For 40% of registered voters in the state, the economy was the most important issue, followed by housing affordability at 24%. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home prices in California are now 2.5 times higher than they were in 2012 and 44% higher than in the first quarter of 2020.

Current California Gov. Gavin Newsom is term-limited and ineligible to seek reelection in 2026, but he may have his sights set on higher office. According to the poll, however, most of his current constituents disapprove of the idea, with 59% saying he should not run for president in 2028.

Newsom holds only a slightly higher approval rating than President Donald Trump in the deep-blue state, with 33% approving of Newsom compared with 28% for Trump.