Kamala Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff has privately told people he would prefer she not run for president again, according to a Wall Street Journal report published late Friday. The former vice president has said publicly she remains undecided.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the conversations, reported that some of Harris’s own top donors have also warned her that another bid would be a “long shot.”
Harris addressed the question directly at a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People event in Michigan last month. “I have not decided if I’m going to run again,” she said. “I do sincerely believe ’28 won’t matter if we don’t get through ’26.”
Her actions tell a different story than her words. She has been speaking with major donors, hiring staff, and traveling to battleground states to campaign for Democrats ahead of November’s midterms, according to the California and New York Post.
Donors, Fundraisers and a Crowded Field
In the weeks before the midterms, Harris has appeared at roughly half a dozen private fundraisers in California, including events supporting Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin, and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democratic nominee for governor of Nevada. The Journal reported that these moves have made some donors uneasy about her intentions.
She also joined a Democratic National Committee get-out-the-vote call this past week, urging more than 2,000 volunteers to knock on doors and work to flip seats across a dozen states.
Polls currently show Harris leading a hypothetical Democratic primary field by double digits over potential rivals including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. But betting markets tell a different story: on Polymarket, Harris ranks dead last among the contenders with a six percent chance, trailing Ocasio-Cortez at 18 percent and Newsom at 15 percent.
The 2024 Record
Harris’s 2024 campaign spent a $1.5 billion war chest and still lost every swing state, lost the popular vote by 2.3 million votes, and lost the Electoral College 226 to 312 against Donald Trump.
Since leaving Washington, Emhoff has returned to his job as an attorney and partner at the Los Angeles law firm Willkie Farr and Gallagher LLP. The couple bought a 4,000-square-foot home in Malibu’s Point Dume last December for a reported $8.15 million, an upgrade from their previous 3,500-square-foot home in Brentwood.
Despite his private reservations, the Journal reported that people close to Emhoff fully expect he will support his wife if she decides to run again.
