McCarthy says Harris would not win California governor race
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Vice President Harris would not win California’s gubernatorial race if she entered it to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2026.
McCarthy on Monday joined Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom,” where he weighed in on Harris’s political future, saying the Democratic Party “is trying to find a new direction.”
“If she came back to California, she would not win the race for governor,” he continued. “So, I mean, she’s got to rethink.”
There are no shortage of prospective Democrats to replace Newsom, with a number of current and statewide officials already declared. No woman has ever held the job.
McCarthy argued that Harris is young enough to have another chapter of her political career, but noted she has “never really done well in long campaigns,” pointing to her 2020 presidential run, when she bowed out of the primary.
Harris was elected twice as California’s attorney general, in 2010 and 2014, and then won her Senate race in 2016, serving until she was selected as President Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Questions are swirling over what Harris will do next as she prepares to hand the vice presidency over to Vice President-elect Vance.
Some Democrats say they want to see Harris run for president again in 2028 despite her defeat to President-elect Trump, but others have speculated she may seek the governor’s position in California, with Newsom term limited.
McCarthy argued that Harris likely wouldn’t have been the party’s nominee against Trump if it held a traditional primary earlier in the election.
McCarthy, who was ousted from being Speaker of the House by his fellow Republican colleagues last year, left Congress last December. He recommended Harris take some time to rest after leaving the White House.
“I would step away for a little bit, rebuild on issues, and look at the places that you can improve to be able to come back,” he said. “And the way you come back is really about an issue and an idea to make the country better.”
The Hill has reached out to Harris’s office for comment.