Inside Kamala Harris’ deliberations over her political future

The 21st of July looms for Kamala Harris and the much smaller world of advisers left around her. It’s the day she’s set to lose the US Secret Service protection that former vice presidents are granted for six months — six months from the inauguration that she believed would be her own after Joe Biden gave her 107 days to win the 2024 election when he ended his reelection bid last July 21.

The 21st of July looms for Kamala Harris and the much smaller world of advisers left around her. It’s the day she’s set to lose the US Secret Service protection that former vice presidents are granted for six months — six months from the inauguration that she believed would be her own after Joe Biden gave her 107 days to win the 2024 election when he ended his reelection bid last July 21. By this date, multiple people close to her say they increasingly believe Harris will have finally ended the intrigue over her political future and be preparing for a 2026 California gubernatorial run. Though she hasn’t made up her mind yet, several of those people tell CNN they expect an official launch would likely come in August or soon after Labor Day. Harris has seen private poll numbers that show her with essentially universal name recognition and strong approval ratings among Democrats in California, leaving her and advisers confident she would clear the field. But several declared candidates are insisting they wouldn’t quit, and one potential rival shared internal poll numbers with CNN showing more likely primary voters say Democrats “would be better off with another candidate for governor” than those who say Harris running would be “a good idea.” The survey included independents and Republicans because of the state’s top-two system in which all candidates, regardless of party, run on the same primary ballot. From informal meetings Harris has been hosting at her Los Angeles home, to inquisitive phone calls and texts she sends to current and former aides with links to articles about California issues, she’s been wrapping her head around what it would be to actually do the job. That wouldn’t be just living in Sacramento or taking a more hands-on approach than she’s tended to: The state is now facing a projected $12 billion budget hole for next year, even aside from national recession fears and having to make up for potential Medicaid cuts out of Washington. Managing austerity with cranky state legislators while battling with a president who is always eager to go after old rivals and routinely makes California a target will have a dramatically different feel from spending an evening at the Met Gala. Some have come away with the sense that considering how hard the job will be, not to mention the prospect of getting back on the campaign trail after last year’s sprint, is making Harris feel like she shouldn’t put herself through this — even if the grief over 2024, friends say, is finally out of her voice.