Kamala Harris isn’t ready to say whether she’ll make another run for the White House. The former vice president addressed her political future during an appearance on Keke Palmer’s podcast, “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer,” revealing that she still hasn’t decided whether to enter the 2028 presidential race.
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During the October 13 episode, Palmer brought up the question as their conversation was wrapping up. Harris laughed before responding, making it clear that another presidential campaign remains a possibility.“I haven’t decided yet. I will, I promise,” she stated. “But the midterms, the midterms, the midterms. ’28 doesn’t matter if we don’t do ’26 right. What’s right in front of us.”
Her response puts the focus on the upcoming congressional elections rather than the next presidential contest. Harris has repeatedly emphasized the importance of 2026 as Democrats work to regain political ground following their 2024 defeat.
That defeat remains a major part of the conversation surrounding a potential Kamala Harris comeback.
According to the Federal Election Commission’s official results, Trump received 77,302,580 popular votes in the November 2024 election, compared with Harris’s 75,017,613 votes. That means Harris lost the national popular vote by 2,284,967 votes, or approximately 1.48 percentage points.
The Electoral College results showed a larger separation. Trump secured 312 electoral votes, while Harris finished with 226, an 86-vote difference.
Harris also lost all seven major battleground states. According to CBS News’ election breakdown, Trump carried Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were particularly significant because all three had supported Joe Biden in 2020.
Harris entered that election under extraordinary circumstances. Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024, following mounting concerns about his candidacy, and endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.
As CBS News reported at the time, the announcement came less than four months before Election Day, leaving Harris with a significantly shorter campaign period than a traditional presidential nominee.
She ultimately had just 107 days to campaign against Trump.
During that period, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, campaigned heavily on reproductive rights, economic opportunities and protecting democratic institutions. Trump, meanwhile, emphasized inflation, immigration and dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.
A Reuters examination of her campaign highlighted the economic concerns that complicated Harris’s efforts to win over working-class voters, despite substantial fundraising and enthusiasm surrounding her historic candidacy.
Harris became the first woman of color to lead a major political party’s presidential ticket. However, that historic milestone did not translate into an electoral victory.
The former vice president later revisited the experience in her memoir, “107 Days,” released in September 2025. According to the Associated Press, the book chronicles her abbreviated presidential campaign and the circumstances surrounding her attempt to become the nation’s first woman elected president.
A potential 2028 campaign would actually mark Harris’s third attempt at the presidency. She initially sought the Democratic nomination during the 2020 election cycle but suspended that campaign in December 2019, before voting began in the primaries.
Since leaving office in January 2025, Harris has continued weighing her political options. She ruled out running for California governor in July 2025, choosing not to pursue the position being vacated by Gavin Newsom.
Her interest in another presidential bid has become more public throughout 2026.
During an April appearance at the National Action Network convention, Harris was directly asked by Rev. Al Sharpton whether she would consider another run.
“Listen, I might. I’m thinking about it,” Harris said, according to CBS News.
Still, the possibility has generated mixed reactions within Democratic circles. ABC News reported in June that some former supporters favored a new face for the party, while others continued to recognize Harris’s experience and political support.
More recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Harris has been speaking with donors, hiring staff and traveling to battleground states to support Democratic candidates. The outlet also reported that some donors have expressed reservations about another presidential campaign.
For Harris, however, the immediate priority remains November 3, 2026. According to USAGov, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and approximately one-third of the Senate are up for election, with control of Congress at stake.
Her conversation with Palmer offered no campaign announcement or timeline for making a decision.
Instead, Harris made one thing clear: Before she decides whether to pursue the White House again in 2028, she’s focused on what happens in the 2026 midterm elections.
