California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris are widely expected to compete for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, setting up a head-to-head contest that would be the culmination of a more than two-decade rivalry, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The two Bay Area Democrats emerged from the same generational wave of California politics — Newsom as San Francisco mayor and Harris as district attorney in 2003 — and have since shared mentors, donors and staff while circling each other with an intensity that Democratic strategists described as both friendly and wary.
“Their trajectories have been so fast and put them in places of such prominence, there’s only one step up electorally for either of them at this point,” Brian Brokaw, a Democratic consultant who has worked for both, told the Journal.
Newsom, 58, is wrapping up his second term as governor and is widely expected to mount a 2028 bid. People close to Harris, 61, say she is undecided but has signaled interest. In April, Harris told Black activists in New York who chanted “Run again” that “I might. I’m thinking about it.”
Early Democratic primary polls show both holding top slots, the Journal reported.
Harris has maintained support among Black voters, a key Democratic constituency, and has headlined state party events in the South. Newsom has been active on the national stage, with a book tour and appearances at events including the Munich Security Conference.
The two have recently been on dueling book tours. Harris’s “107 Days,” released in September, has sold more than 385,000 copies through May 23, according to Circana BookScan data cited by the Journal. Newsom’s memoir “Young Man in a Hurry,” released in February, has sold more than 100,000 copies in close to 13 weeks. Their respective PACs have bought and distributed each other’s books, the Journal reported, citing federal filings. Newsom’s PAC spent $1.6 million the week his book went on sale. Harris’s PAC spent $97,000 buying her books during the month Newsom’s memoir launched.
The Journal report detailed a history of subtle but persistent tension.
At the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris was surprised to learn that Newsom was missing from the roster of speakers. Advisors told her that Newsom had declined a speaking slot, citing a scheduling conflict, according to people familiar with the discussion. People close to Newsom told the Journal that he considered the convention appearance on behalf of Harris about as appealing “as giving a speech at the wedding of an ex” and was happy to have an excuse to bow out. Newsom later appeared at the convention’s high point, announcing California’s delegate count that secured Harris’s nomination. “Kamala Harris has always done the right thing,” he said from the stage.
A passage in Harris’s book recounts a phone call she made to Newsom after President Biden’s exit from the 2024 race. According to Harris’s account, Newsom texted “Hiking. Will call back” but never did. Newsom has since said he did text Harris, having already put out a statement supporting her, and that he was the last person she needed to talk to. He later messaged Harris asking why she wrote he never answered. She replied, “On book tour. Get back to you later.” Newsom told an interviewer: “Anyway, that’s the relationship.”
Democratic strategist Garry South, who worked for Newsom, described the dynamic to the Journal using an alley-cat metaphor. “They’ve been kind of like two cats, circling each other in an alley for years, politically speaking,” South said.
The relationship traces back to the 2003 San Francisco elections, when both won high-profile races. Newsom’s then-wife, Kim Guilfoyle, warned her husband to be wary of Harris’s intentions, saying Harris was neither a friend nor an ally, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
In the decades since, they have exchanged endorsements and snubs. Newsom endorsed Harris in her 2016 Senate campaign; she endorsed his gubernatorial race. But during Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign, Newsom delayed endorsing her until pressed directly in an MSNBC interview — a question suggested to news producers by a Harris aide, according to people familiar with the matter. The Journal reported that Newsom did not spend as much time campaigning or fundraising for Harris as her campaign wanted.
A dozen years ago, Sean Clegg, a political adviser who worked for both, foresaw the potential destructiveness of a direct matchup. “If they ever run in the same race,” Clegg told the San Francisco Chronicle, “it will be a murder-suicide. God forbid.”
Some donors and supporters have already decided which candidate they would back but are hesitant to say publicly, hoping to avoid the discomfort of breaking the news to the other, according to the Journal. The conflict is expected to intensify if both formally enter the race.