On a Sunday night last fall, around 20 of Kamala Harris’s close friends (and Spike Lee) gathered in the private dining room of Beefbar, an upscale restaurant in Tribeca. The former vice president was in New York for a stop on a cross-country tour to promote 107 Days, her best-selling account of the 2024 election. At the dinner, Harris had what one source described as a “candid” conversation with Reverend Al Sharpton about her political future.
She asked Sharpton, a fixture in Democratic politics, what he thought of her taking another shot at the White House. During their 20-minute conversation, details of which were first reported by NBC News, Sharpton said he would probably be supportive of her if she chose to run, but also that her legacy was already secure: “You have nothing to prove.”
Quitting the endless campaign is easier said than done. When Al Gore was in the same position as Harris, James Carville quipped that running for president is like sex: “You don’t do it once and forget about it.” The next step for any defeated politician is a run for office, and it is perhaps in that spirit that Harris embarked on a book tour, which turned into an extended book tour, which turned this year into a “listening tour.” You could say we’re at the listening stage of grief following her earth-shattering defeat to Donald Trump.
There is an argument for Harris to try again in 2028. She drew 75 million votes in 2024, the most of any runner-up in history. She holds a double-digit lead in some early primary polls. Her book was a smashing success, selling half a million copies in its first week. The extension of her book tour was not forced either—she’s drawing sold-out crowds. And she’s proven a popular voice on social media, where a recent TikTok video excoriating the Supreme Court decision on voting rights drew more than 19 million views.
In the words of one of her close advisers: “Of course she should run. Why shouldn’t she run?”
Harris has kept a tight lid on her plans. When asked by Sharpton at his annual NAN convention if she would mount another campaign, Harris said, “Listen, I might, I might. I’m thinking about it.”
As if trying to prove it, she pivoted not-so-subtly into a pitch. “I am thinking about it, but let me, let me also say this: I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office footsteps away from the oath of office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires…and I’ve been traveling the country the last year…. The status quo is not working…. They don’t want process, they want progress.”
“She got an overwhelming reception,” Sharpton says of the appearance. “We were filled to the rafters. People underestimate the people that not only felt she did something miraculous in 107 days, but that she has a base of supporters.”
According to multiple sources close to the former vice president, she remains undecided but is strongly considering another run for the White House. “People around her are pushing her to run,” says a person who has spoken with Harris about 2028. “She seemed inclined to seriously entertain it.” (Vanity Fair has reached out to Harris for comment.)
