Former VP Kamala Harris Hints at 2028 Presidential Bid

A new financial disclosure recently signed by former Vice President Kamala Harris hints that she may be eyeing a 2028 Presidential bid rather than run for Governor in 2026.

For the last few months, Harris has been reportedly stuck between deciding on running for Governor next year or running for President again in 2028. Last week, upon returning to California, plans became even more muddled when her husband, Doug Emhoff, took a job at the Willkie Farr & Gallagher law firm based out of New York. It is known that he will be spending time between Los Angeles and New York, with Harris expected to go with him to New York at least some of the time. This has further necessitated Harris and Emhoff getting an apartment at Manhattan, possibly signaling building up an East Coast presence before 2028.

“I am delighted to be joining Willkie, where I am looking forward to working alongside trusted and innovative legal counselors,” said Emhoff in his legal practice announcement on Monday. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to join this talented and collaborative team.”

DC roots are still in place as well, with the Willkie announcement confirming that Emhoff will be staying on as both a board member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. However, it was a financial disclosure by Harris this week that hinted the most of what could be happening.

According to her presidential campaign’s final financial disclosure filed last week, she has now established an LLC called Pioneer49 last month in California, created as “an entity to assist the former vice president.” But the name Pioneer is perhaps most telling, as her Secret Service codename was Pioneer. Choosing her Vice Presidential codename instead of something else hints at her looking at President again, rather than Governor.

It is by no means a confirmation. Former President Barack Obama’s post-President LLC was named Renegade44, and he has not returned to any office upon leaving the Presidency in 2017. Harris has also not made any big moves, simply visiting several wildfire stricken areas in Los Angeles and beginning to write a book in her first week after leaving the office. Nevertheless, her new LLC name, as well as the revelation that Emhoff will not be leaving his DC posts, have convinced many that Harris wants to run again in 2028.

“This is very much speculation, but these actions aren’t of a couple where one is planning on running for Governor next year,” gubernatorial pollster Guillermo Williams told the Globe Monday. “There’s really nothing that is showing that she’ll run for Governor. To many it would be a step back from Vice President, and if Harris wants another crack at the Oval Office, she would be better off running as a former Vice President rather than a Governor.

“Crazier things have been done. But her husband is taking a job where he will be part time in New York and close to DC for his work there. That’s perfect for Harris to springboard off of. Besides outright telling everyone what she wants to do, look out for other dead giveaways. If she has a lot of meetings with Newsom or travels up to Sacramento some or around just the state some, then it may show her interested in becoming Governor. But heading out east and perhaps visiting projected 2028 swing states would indicate her wanting to be President. Hopefully we’ll know more soon.”