- Friday, June 06, 2025
The former vice president stayed away from the California Democratic convention held at Anaheim over the weekend
By: India Weekly
OVER six months after losing the US presidential elections to Donald Trump, Kamala Harris appears uncertain about her future plans.
The former vice president has been keeping a low profile and stayed out of the limelight since leaving Washington in January.
She only made a handful of public appearances, including a speech that criticized Trump’s first 100 days in office in early May.
There was speculation that she might run for the governorship of her home state of California in 2026, but her absence at the California Democratic convention held at Anaheim over the weekend has raised doubts.
Instead, Harris delivered a 3-minute video speech with other gubernatorial candidates in attendance.
In the video, she spoke about the Trump administration’s recent actions against universities and praised activists efforts to fight the president’s agenda.
“While this administration in Washington tries to divide us, we hear know that we are stronger when we stand together,” she said, a flashback to her 2024 campaign slogan.
The Democratic primary for the governor’s race is scheduled for June 2, 2026, with the general election scheduled for November.
The incumbent governor, Gavin Newsom, of the Democratic Party will be unable to run as he will be completing his two consecutive terms in office.
Former Congresswoman Katie Porter, lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former health secretary Xavier Becerra are the Democrats who have launched a bid for California governor.
Harris’s absence has not gone down well with California Democratic activists, as they are impatient to move forward with a clear candidate.
There are no frontrunners among the Democratic contenders, but if Harris decides to contest, she will emerge as one.
Interestingly, her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, was present at the convention and attacked Trump for his corruption and greed.
He noted the callous, hard-heartedness the president and his allies displayed during California’s horrific January firestorm.
“They didn’t have the backs of the firefighters. They didn’t hustle to get you the help you needed. They hung you out to dry,” he said.
He also attacked Democrats for being so feckless that they made the odious Trump seem preferable by comparison.
Walz argued that many voters view the Democratic party as a “deer in headlights” and said they are at risk of becoming “roadkill.”
Republican contenders
In the Republican camp, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Trump loyalist, and Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, have decided to contest.
Hilton is a native of the United Kingdom and moved to California in 2012. He was the former political adviser to British prime minister David Cameron.
Both believe that voters have grown sick of a generation of one-party Democratic rule and are looking for change.
California has not elected a Republican to the state’s top office since former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger won a second term in 2006.
