California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris both said this weekend that they are considering presidential runs, setting up a potential clash in California in the 2028 Democratic primary.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom told CBS News on Sunday when asked if he is seriously considering a run. “I’d just be lying, and I can’t do that.”
“The idea that a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom, the idea that you would even throw that out is, in and of itself, extraordinary,” Newsom continued. “Who the hell knows? I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people.”
Newsom said Sunday any decision he makes is still years away, as his term in the governors’ mansion goes through early 2027. His current priority, he said, is lobbying for his state’s redistricting ballot proposal this November, which would allow for California to join the nationwide redistricting fight.
“I think it’s about our democracy. It’s about the future of this republic,” Newsom. “I think it’s about, you know, what the founding fathers lived and died for, this notion of the rule of law, and not the rule of Don.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s open to a presidential run.
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) October 26, 2025
The Democrat and frequent Trump critic said he’ll give serious thought to a White House bid after next year’s midterms. “I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom said, adding that “fate will determine” his decision and a… pic.twitter.com/uD8OqNrnHE
In a Saturday interview with the BBC, Harris said she remains confident the U.S. will have a female president one day, and isn’t ruling herself out as a candidate in 2028.
“I am not done,” she said. “I have lived my entire career as a life of service, and it’s in my bones.”
Harris also shrugged off polls that show her trailing potential competitors, telling the British broadcaster: “If I listened to polls, I would have not run for my first office, or my second office — and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Harris and Newsom both emphasized no decisions have been made.
Earlier this month, former Trump aide Steve Bannon implied there “is a plan” for Trump to run for a third term, a Constitution-violating idea that Trump has floated several times and sells merchandise for. Other possible Republican contenders include Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people just ought to get accommodated with that,” Bannon told The Economist last week. “At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there is a plan.”