Politics

Chuck Todd Turns On Kamala, Warns Her Not To Run For Governor

Published

3 days ago

March 31, 2025

NBC’s Chuck Todd delivered a blunt piece of advice to former Vice President Kamala Harris this week as she weighs a possible run for California governor in 2026: don’t do it.

“Boy, I would be shocked if she does,” Todd said during an interview. “If she wants to run for president in ’28, you can’t run for governor of California in ’26. So I do think if she runs for governor, she’s made the decision she’s not running.”

The sharp commentary marks a notable shift from Todd, who has previously covered Harris with a more measured tone. But with the Democratic Party still reeling from Harris’s loss to President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, cracks in the support for her political future are beginning to show.

Harris has yet to announce whether she’ll enter the 2026 California governor’s race. She has reportedly set a decision deadline for the end of the summer, but several Democrats have already jumped in—including current Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Todd’s main argument? A Harris run would be political suicide.

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“Here would be my warning to any conventional Democrat running for governor of California in ’26,” Todd continued. “Go look at the track record of any political party trying to win a governorship for basically 20 straight years. It doesn’t happen very often, right? And so this is 16 straight years of Democratic governance in California. It’s the longest, I think, going back nearly 100 years. Governor is the one place where voters won’t always vote their jersey color.”

In other words, the Democratic grip on the state may not hold if voters decide it’s time for a change—and Harris, whose resumé includes serving as vice president, senator, and district attorney, may be seen as the ultimate insider.

“I think voters are going to be looking for somebody from the outside,” Todd said. “And I think that Harris, somebody who’s the former vice president, former U.S. senator, former district attorney in San Francisco, I just, you know, how does she sell change? She’s got to somehow run against Gavin Newsom’s governorship. So I just don’t see the path for her.”

That critique stings even more given Harris’s failed bid for the presidency in 2024. After former President Biden abruptly exited the race, Harris launched a hastily built campaign that struggled to find footing. Her inability to connect with working-class voters—and the perception that she was merely extending Biden’s unpopular legacy—proved costly. Harris became another cautionary tale for the Democratic establishment.

“If I were advising her,” Todd said, “I’d tell her, go throw yourself into the rebuild of LA and get involved with the LA Olympic Committee. Be above politics for a couple of years and come back maybe in 2030 or 2032.”

Her decision in the coming months could signal whether she still sees herself in the presidential arena—or is ready to shift toward a more localized role in California politics.

Either way, the message from Chuck Todd was clear: running for governor may shut the door on any shot Harris has left at the White House.