Could Kamala Harris Become Governor of California? What Poll Shows

As speculation grows about the path that Vice President Kamala Harris’ career will take after losing the presidential election, one poll suggests that a governorship could be in play.
A new poll from UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times, conducted between October 22 and 29, shows Harris with a substantial advantage over other candidates for the 2026 California gubernatorial race as term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom can’t run again.
According to the poll, about 72 percent of Democrats said they would be very likely or somewhat likely support Harris for governor, compared with 8 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of voters with no party preference. Democrats in the state have a 2-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans.
Overall, 46 percent of likely voters were somewhat (13 percent) or very (33 percent) likely to support her for governor in 2026, the poll found.
Although Harris ranks as the front-runner, the poll shows that her support is lower among Californians than in the presidential race, in which she won 59 percent of the vote in the state, according to CNN exit polls.
Separate from the questions about Harris, the poll asked voters to rank their top two choices from a lengthy list of candidates who have either entered the governor’s race or are being considered as potential contenders.
Representative Katie Porter, who has not said whether she will run, ranked as the second choice among Californians, with 13 percent of voters choosing her as their first or second choice.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and state Senator Brian Dahle, who ran against Newsom in 2022 and are said to be considering running again, were the first or second choice of 12 percent and 11 percent of registered voters, respectively.
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, both of whom are running for governor, each have 7 percent support, as does U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who hasn’t confirmed his candidacy. Republican Steve Hilton, also considering a run, is the top choice for 6 percent of voters. Other candidates, including Tony Thurmond, Toni Atkins and Betty Yee, each with less than 5 percent support.
But the largest share of voters (52 percent) said they had no opinion about any of the candidates, underscoring what an advantage Harris would have because of her name recognition.
“Nearly all voters in this state have an opinion of her, and that’s really the big advantage that she brings to an early poll,” Mark DiCamillo, the director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, told the Los Angeles Times. “None of the other candidates are as well known to the voting public.”
The poll surveyed 4,838 registered voters in California and had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
Harris has not said if she intends to run for governor. She previously enjoyed a successful career in California politics, serving as San Francisco district attorney and later as attorney general and a senator. She also previously opened a campaign account to raise money to run for governor before closing it in 2018.
Newsweek has contacted the Harris campaign for comment via email.
If elected, she would be California’s first female governor. However, she would not be the first vice president to run for governor of California after losing a presidential election. Richard Nixon was denied the presidency in 1960, then the governor’s mansion two years later, telling reporters, in part: “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference,” according to the Richard Nixon Foundation. Eight years later, he won the presidency. It is not clear if Harris plans to run for the presidency again.