Should former Vice President Kamala Harris decide to jump in the race for California governor, she may face off against a top Trump official.
“If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California, and that the Republican actually has a shot, and I wouldn’t say no,” Richard Grenell, Trump’s U.S. envoy for special missions, told reporters in Munich on Friday.
Harris, who was the frontrunner in recent hypothetical polling of the race, has remained evasive when asked whether she’d run.
“I have been home for two weeks and three days,” she said recently when asked about her plans. “My plans are to be in touch with my community, to be in touch with the leaders and figure out what I can do to support them, and, most importantly, to lift up the folks who are surviving this extraordinary crisis.”
Grenell, who previously served during Trump’s first term in office in several different roles, including acting director of national intelligence, has previously eyed running for California governor before.
He expressed interest in taking on Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2021 in a recall election but later withdrew his name right before the deadline.
Newsom is term-limited in 2026 and can’t run again, paving the way for a potentially crowded field of candidates on either side. (The Hill)
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A recent survey from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill shows Harris with support from 57 percent of Democratic primary voters.
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