Gavin Newsom made his promise to clear the way for Kamala Harris in 2028 during a mid-August fly-fishing trip.
“That doesn’t even make sense to me,” a puzzled Jake Tapper said on CNN after Newsom’s head-shaking revelation aired earlier this week. “She had a shot, you’ve never run and she’s run twice.”
Newsom’s declaration stunned Democratic donors, many of whom were already anxious about the party’s 2028 field. But political strategists questioned whether the California governor was being entirely serious.
By the time the interview was broadcast, Newsom had completed a four-event, two-day tour of South Carolina, the state Democrats have chosen to launch their primary process.
“I think he’s messing with her, getting in her head,” a former Harris adviser told Our News Outlet.
Another Democratic strategist, who is not aligned with either politician, offered a darker interpretation. The pledge, the strategist said, appeared designed to “isolate” Harris from potential donors by creating a “him vs. her” contest.
Under that scenario, donors who want Newsom to enter the race would first have to persuade Harris to stay out.
California Governor Gavin Newsom stunned donors by promising not to run in 2028 if Kamala Harris sought another presidential bid
Harris has increasingly signaled that she is interested in making another run for president
Harris and Newsom advanced through California politics together under the mentorship of political power broker Willie Brown
Newsom said a Harris campaign could lead to “mutual assured destruction,” with the two Californians competing for the same voters and donors.
The governor has previously stepped aside for Harris as both politicians advanced through California’s political ranks.
They are both protégés of Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and longtime California political power broker.
When Newsom sought the San Francisco mayoralty, Harris ran for district attorney. Later, as Newsom pursued the lieutenant governor’s office, Harris campaigned for attorney general. And when Newsom indicated he would run for governor, Harris instead pursued California’s open Senate seat in 2016.
Harris eventually turned her attention to the White House.
She ran for president twice without succeeding, making the argument for deference less compelling this time, prominent Democrats unaffiliated with Newsom told Our News Outlet.
Representatives for Newsom and Harris did not respond to requests for comment.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton viewed the pledge as a strategic move, writing on social media that Newsom wanted supporters to understand that “he wouldn’t interfere with a black woman having a second chance.”
Other Democrats also believed Newsom could benefit regardless of what Harris ultimately decides.
“If she doesn’t run, he gets credit with black voters for being deferential AND her endorsement will be among the most coveted in the primary,” a Democratic strategist told Our News Outlet.
Newsom talks with voters as he campaigns in South Carolina earlier this month
Then-Vice President Harris appeared at a campaign rally with Newsom in 2021
Newsom takes a photo with a South Carolina voter during a political tour in the state
The money, meanwhile, has already moved on.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a powerful Democratic donor, warned publicly that Harris faces ‘a very challenging path’ – and donors who spoke to Our News Outlet remain furious about the more than one billion dollars she burned through before losing to Trump in 2024.
Newsom’s pledge only sharpens the pressure on her to make way for a fresh face, one strategist said.
Harris is not taking the hint.
Her case, laid out in her bestseller 107 Days, is that she was handed a fraction of a campaign and deserves a whole one with her own identity on the line.
Her slogan – ‘don’t let anybody tell you no’ – resurfaced last week on a podcast with retired soccer star Megan Rapinoe, where she laughed off the question of why she is back in the arena with a line from the Godfather: ‘They pulled me back in.’
She added that ‘I don’t know a life’ outside politics.
That drew a flat response from one Democratic strategist, who told Our News Outlet they had ‘no idea’ who was supposed to be doing the pulling.
Harris has been working the South for months, betting everything on South Carolina where black voters dominate the primary electorate, and where Joe Biden resurrected a corpse of a campaign in 2020 after he struggled among the whiter and more progressive voter pools in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Harris knows the money isn’t with her, one strategist said. She thinks the Southern state can fix that with one swift victory.
Harris enjoys national recognition, giving her an edge in the polls.
A recent HarrisX poll showed that she leads the 2028 Democratic primary field with 42 percent. Newsom comes in second with 17 percent and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in third place with 12 percent.
Harris enjoys 60 percent of the black vote while Newsom only has 14 percent support.
But she also enjoys nearly universal name recognition, having served as vice president and since becoming the surprise nominee in 2024.
Newsom is less likely to defer to Harris this time, sources tell Our News Outlet
As vice president, Harris visited Governor Newsom after the California wildfires in 2020
Harris knows that donors will only back her if she can win convincingly in South Carolina
Democrats are braced for a crowded and bloody 2028 field, and operatives are preparing for the stampede to the first nominating state.
‘People have to come here first. You gotta show up and prove that you care,’ South Carolina Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright told Our News Outlet.
‘But no one is going to hand her or any of the other potential candidates the nomination,’ Democratic strategist Joe Trippi added.
Now Democrats wait and see if Newsom will actually tamp down his ambition if Harris ramps up hers.
‘This is not his first time in the state,’ Seawright said of Newsom, ‘and his latest visit provided a shot of energy to his momentum.’
