Former US vice president Kamala Harris has indicated she is keeping open the possibility of another run for the White House in 2028, offering a brief but telling response when asked directly whether she would seek the presidency again.
In a recent interview with podcaster Sharon McMahon, Harris was asked if she wanted to “throw her hat in the ring again” after her defeat in the 2024 election. Harris replied: “I haven’t decided,” and then added: “I might.”
The comments, delivered without any formal announcement or campaign framing, have nonetheless renewed attention around Harris’s political future, more than a year after she lost to Donald Trump in November 2024. Harris, who served as vice president under Joe Biden, became the Democratic Party’s nominee for president late in the 2024 cycle after Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her.
Harris’s remarks to McMahon were consistent with the cautious language she has used in other appearances since leaving office, where she has avoided committing to a specific electoral path while maintaining that she is not stepping away from public life. In an interview with the BBC in October 2025, Harris said she believed her grandniece would see a female US president “in their lifetime, for sure,” and when asked if that president would be her, she replied: “possibly.”
In that same period, Harris also said: “I am not done,” and described public service as central to her identity. “I have lived my entire career as a life of service, and it’s in my bones,” she said.
Since the 2024 election, Harris has largely avoided setting out a clear plan for a return to elected office, but her decisions and public comments have been closely watched within Democratic politics because of her national profile and the compressed, high-intensity nature of her 2024 campaign. Harris’s presidential run lasted 107 days, a period she later described and reflected on in a memoir, “107 Days,” which she promoted through a series of public events and interviews.
That book, billed as a recounting of what she saw and learned during the campaign and “what it will take to move forward,” became a key vehicle for Harris’s re-emergence in public settings after months of relative quiet following the election.
As part of that promotion, Harris appeared in London in October 2025 at the Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival, at an event advertised as “A Conversation with Kamala Harris.” The Southbank Centre said the appearance would focus on the launch of the memoir and Harris’s perspective on the country’s direction.
The question of whether Harris might run again has also been shaped by what she has chosen not to pursue. In July 2025, Harris announced she would not run for governor of California, a decision that ended a long period of speculation about whether she would return to politics first through state office. In a statement reported at the time, she said: “In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their governor,” before adding: “But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election.”
She also made clear she was not immediately seeking another elected role, saying: “For now, my leadership, and public service, will not be in elected office.”
Even while stepping back from a specific campaign, Harris said she intended to remain active in Democratic politics, stating she looked forward to “helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly,” and that she would share more about her own plans in the months ahead.
The combination of that decision and her continued public appearances has left open multiple interpretations of her next move, but Harris has not offered a timeline or any operational signs of a campaign, and her own language has remained deliberately noncommittal. In the McMahon interview, the exchange was brief, with Harris providing no further detail beyond “I haven’t decided” and “I might,” even as the host pressed her on whether she was still thinking about the question.
Harris’s position in the Democratic Party remains unusual in modern US politics: a former vice president and presidential nominee who left office after an election loss, without holding another public role. PEOPLE reported that her departure alongside Biden marked the first time in more than two decades that she did not hold a public service position, following a career that included roles as California attorney general and US senator.
Her supporters argue that history could still place her at the centre of a future national campaign, particularly if Democrats seek a familiar figure with proven fundraising and national name recognition. Critics, meanwhile, have questioned whether the party would choose to revisit the 2024 contest with the same standard-bearer, especially as other Democrats build profiles ahead of the next presidential cycle.
Harris has not directly addressed those strategic questions in her recent remarks. Instead, she has continued to frame her post-election life in terms of service and civic engagement, even as she leaves the door open to a return to the ballot. The effect is to keep multiple options viable at once, while avoiding statements that could be read as either a pledge to run or a definitive withdrawal from national politics.
What is clear is that Harris is not closing off the prospect of a 2028 campaign, and she is doing so in her own measured style, with short answers that acknowledge the question’s importance without giving it final shape. Asked whether she would run again, Harris did not say yes, and she did not say no. She said: “I haven’t decided.” And then: “I might.”
