The former Mayor of San Francisco, and ex-boyfriend of former Vice President Kamala Harris, warned that she may face a "difficult" road ahead if she is to try and run for governor of California.
"State of Gold" podcast host Jon Slavet asked Willie Brown what he made of Kamala Harris’s political future in California. Brown didn’t sound optimistic. “I do think people running for public office really ought to fit eventually where they are trying to land at,” he said. “And I really do hope, frankly, that [Harris] comes to that reality.”
“She may not want to run for governor of the state of California. That may not be where she should be going. I think it’s going to be difficult for her to win that job,” he continued.
NEW: Willie Brown on Kamala Harris:
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) July 23, 2025
"She may not want to run for Governor. I think it will be difficult for her to win that job."
The former San Francisco Mayor says in 2020 he told Harris not to run for VP...but ask Biden to name her as AG instead. After that, he says, they… pic.twitter.com/s0OoR43IbF
Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and longtime kingmaker in California politics, was instrumental in getting Kamala Harris’s career off the ground in her early days. In the mid-1990s, when Harris was a young prosecutor and Brown was the much older Speaker of the Assembly, their 18-month-long relationship became a hot topic in San Francisco political circles. Brown gave Harris high-profile state board appointments and brought her into the city’s elite political and donor world. Critics accused him of favoritism and questioned whether Harris’s rise had more to do with connections than credentials. That question remains open today.
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