Poll finds support for Kamala Harris candidate for governor of California

While Vice President Kamala Harris licks her wounds a historic defeat last weekA new poll shows that nearly half of Californians would consider electing her governor in 2026 if she were a candidate.

A week after the 2024 general election concluded, more than half of voters remain undecided on the likely 2026 candidates. Survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley found. The race is in its very early stages, said Eric Schickler, co-director of the institute.

“If Vice President Harris were to run, she would have a significant advantage as she is by far the best known of the potential candidates,” Schickler said in a statement. “But for now, this is shaping up to be a wide-open race, with several Democrats likely vying for the attention of Democratic voters.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom — whose own aspirations for the White House are well known – still has two years left in his final term. The race to replace him is already a crowded field of nine Democrats and four Republicans expected to participate.

The early frontrunners? Democratic Rep. Katie Porter and two Republicans, state Sen. Brian Dahle, who lost the 2022 governor’s race to Newsom, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, according to the poll.

In the survey, 13% named Porter, who lost a bid for the U.S. Senate to fellow Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey in the March primary, as their first or second choice for governor. Bianco followed with 12% and Dahle with 11%.

In addition, pollsters asked likely voters whether they would consider supporting Harris if the outgoing vice president were to enter the gubernatorial race. A third said they were very likely to vote for Harris, and 13% were likely to do so, the poll found.

Harris has not said whether she will run, and her aides say it is too early to speculate about her career prospects after her crushing defeat by former President Donald Trump.

“While it would be politically risky to step back from vice president to governorship, Vice President Harris would be a giant in this race,” said David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University.

Even if Harris were not to run, she could exert influence as a “kingmaker or queenmaker” by supporting one of the candidates and raising money, McCuan added.