Kamala Harris steps up midterm campaigning as 2028 ambitions remain in focus

Former US Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her campaign appearances for fellow Democrats as she considers whether to make another bid for the White House, beginning with a visit to Michigan on Tuesday to support Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

The trip marks a significant return to a state where Harris suffered a defeat to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Michigan is also among six states set to launch the Democratic Party’s next presidential nominating process.

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Harris has further campaign appearances planned in Nevada and Georgia, two states that are expected to remain important to the Democratic Party’s electoral strategy. Her increased involvement in the midterm elections could help shape perceptions of her prospects for a future presidential campaign, while also exposing her to renewed scrutiny from Democrats who want the party to move beyond its 2024 defeat.

“I think she's run her course,” said Barry Goodman, a Democratic National Committee member from Michigan who raised money for both Joe Biden and Harris. “I just don't think her running again would be the right thing for America moving forward.”

Some Democratic candidates have already distanced themselves from the prospect of campaigning alongside Harris, particularly in states that Trump won by wide margins. Iowa gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand told Politico, “No thanks. Let's move on. We need some new leadership.”

Others, including influential Black women who supported Biden’s decision to select Harris as his running mate in 2020, have argued that she should be allowed to consider her political future without pressure to make an immediate decision.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently told CNN that he would not seek the Democratic presidential nomination if Harris decided to run.

“Kamala isn't under any deadline to run for anything,” said Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee chair who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. Brazile described efforts to revisit Harris’s shortened 2024 campaign as a “waste of time” and said potential presidential contenders “should follow Kamala's lead and get out there” to support candidates in the midterm elections.

Harris has not announced any upcoming visits to South Carolina, where Democrats are scheduled to hold their first primary. Antjuan Seawright, a political consultant in the state, said Harris could make a case for herself but would need to demonstrate that a future campaign would be different from her previous one.

“She's going to have to admit that she was wrong about some things,” Seawright said.

Michigan offers Harris both risk and opportunity

Michigan carries particular significance for Harris because of the political fallout from the 2024 election. Arab American communities in the state strongly criticised the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and were disappointed that Harris did not break with Biden after becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.

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El-Sayed, meanwhile, has been an outspoken critic of Israel and has described the war in Gaza as a genocide against Palestinians, a characterisation rejected by Israel. His views have raised concerns among some Jewish voters, and he has sought to address the controversy by apologising for certain past comments.

“There were some hurt feelings” in Michigan following the 2024 election, El-Sayed told MSNOW, adding that some Black voters believed Arab Americans had not done enough to support Harris.

He described Harris’s visit as an opportunity “to bring communities together that have often been torn apart by recent events.”

The appearance will also draw attention to the political differences between the two Democrats. Harris has had a strained relationship with the party’s progressive wing, while El-Sayed is seeking to strengthen establishment support in his contest against Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former congressman.

“We can build together on the areas of agreement, and we can come to understand each other far better on the areas where we might have seen eye to eye, and I think her coming into town will help us to do that,” El-Sayed said.

Harris’s campaign travel has been limited compared with that of other potential 2028 contenders, including Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 and later served as Biden’s transportation secretary. Buttigieg recently visited South Carolina and has been campaigning for Democratic candidates in the midterms.

Harris visited South Carolina in the spring for smaller local party events. She has also participated in an organising call focused on registering and mobilising an additional 1 million Black voters.

“There's value in doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes instead of being front and centre, especially for her,” said Bre Maxwell, a Democratic National Committee member from South Carolina. Maxwell said Harris had little incentive to place herself at the centre of news cycles while remaining “a target of Donald Trump right now.”

Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina Democrat who served as the national party chair during Biden and Harris’s time in the White House, said Harris’s prominence gave her more time than other potential candidates to decide whether to run.

“Many of these folks who do get in quickly would love to have that type of name ID, would love to have that type of network, to have that type of email list,” Harrison said.

Harris has repeatedly said she is in no hurry to decide her next political move. In a recent podcast appearance, she said, “Right now - midterms, midterms, midterms.” Her spokesman, Eduardo Negron, declined to comment on her timeline.

Her other campaign appearances this autumn include events supporting Nevada Democratic gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford and Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking reelection and has himself been mentioned in discussions about the 2028 presidential race.

“She is certainly being strategic,” Seawright said.

He noted that Harris’s tour for her campaign memoir, *107 Days*, took her to nearly every major Southern city in states where Black voters have a significant influence on early Democratic primary contests.

Goodman said he had heard no evidence that Harris was actively working the Democratic Party’s top donor network. Harrison said he had not spoken to her since December.

Lessons from previous campaigns

Harris first sought the Democratic presidential nomination during the 2020 election cycle, when she was a US senator from California. She withdrew from the race in late 2019, before any primary votes were cast.

Her record as a former prosecutor drew criticism from some progressives, who viewed her as part of a criminal justice system that disproportionately imprisons Black men. Some moderates, meanwhile, regarded her as a liberal politician from San Francisco.

Biden later selected Harris as his running mate, making her the first woman and first Black person to serve as US vice president.

After Biden ended his reelection campaign following a poor debate performance, Harris became the Democratic nominee and initially generated strong enthusiasm. She drew large crowds, delivered a speech at the party’s national convention and received favourable reviews for her debate performance against Trump.

However, she struggled to distinguish herself from Biden on issues including inflation and immigration. During an appearance on *The View*, Harris said she could not think of anything she would have done differently from Biden. Trump also targeted her support for transgender rights in campaign advertisements, declaring, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

Seawright said Harris would need to adopt a clearer approach if she ran again, including a willingness to reconsider some of her earlier positions.

“She's going to have to admit that she was wrong about some things,” he said, adding that voters “reward that kind of authenticity and humility.”

Harrison said Harris would have greater scope to develop her own political agenda outside the constraints of the vice presidency. But he also cautioned that she would need to move beyond the formalities and protections associated with the office.

“You can't act like a sitting vice president, standing up on that stage,” Harrison said. “I'd tell her she has to run hard, just as hard as everybody else, working every rope line, taking every selfie.”

Unlike Biden’s decision to hand the nomination to Harris in 2024, Harrison said, the next Democratic presidential contest would be “the wild, wild west.”