Trump aide says he is considering run for California governor against Kamala Harris
Richard Grenell, a Trump administration official with close ties to the president, told reporters Friday that he would consider running for governor of California in 2026 if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the race.
Grenell, the special presidential envoy for special missions, told reporters while attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany that he believed Harris was vulnerable after the Democrat lost to President Donald Trump in November and Republicans made slight gains in the Golden State.
“If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California, and that the Republican actually has a shot,” he said, according to Politico. “And I wouldn’t say no (to running).”
An Emerson College poll published earlier this week said that a majority of likely Democratic voters would support Harris if she chose to run. Harris, who has won three times statewide—twice for attorney general and once as a U.S. Senate candidate—is reportedly considering it, but brushed off questions from reporters as she surveyed damage from the Los Angeles wildfires last week.
Grenell, a Republican and Palm Springs resident, previously considered running for the state’s highest elected office when current Gov. Gavin Newsom faced a recall election in 2021 that he handily overcame. Grenell later opted not to run a day before the filing deadline.
Newsom is term limited in 2026 and cannot run again.
Trump also tapped Grenell earlier this week to serve as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after purging board members who had ties to former President Joe Biden and naming himself chairman.
Grenell previously served in 2020 in Trump’s administration as ambassador to Germany and as Acting Director of National Intelligence until stepping down after serving a few months in each position.
California Senate Republicans honored Grenell in 2023 as the first openly gay man to serve in a presidential cabinet. Democrats like Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, who is a member of the legislative LGBTQ caucus, slammed the move in an X post after the same lawmakers protested a vote declaring June LGBTQ Pride Month.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent Tony Thurmond, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins have declared their intent to run for the Democratic nomination.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 10:43 AM.
