Newsom says he won’t run for president if Harris does
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- Newsom suggested a desire to avoid a fight for supporters between him and Harris.
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Newsom → say → him
- Harris has not decided whether she will run for president again, she said last week.
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she → decide → president
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 if Kamala Harris does so, appearing to offer deference to the former vice president ahead of a race that could draw a historically crowded field of candidates.
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that → say → candidates
“I wouldn’t run if she ran,” Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview posted Monday.
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Newsom → run → interview
I wouldn’t do that to her. ...
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I → do → her
I wouldn’t do it to you, I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time.”
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I → do → time
Newsom appeared to acknowledge a desire to avoid the possibly messy fight for California backers that could ensue if both were to run, saying there would be “pure crossover” between Harris’ supporters and his.
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both → appear → supporters
The governor’s effective yield to Harris diminishes the possibility of a showdown between two of California’s most powerful political figures in an election whose stakes are viewed by the Democratic Party as existential.
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stakes → diminish → Party
The possibility of Harris making a second attempt at the presidency after her loss to President Trump in 2024 has hung as the biggest question over the potential Democratic field.
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Harris → make → field
Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, offered the clearest signal yet that she could seek to lead Democrats back to the White House in 2028.
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she → offer → 2028
Both Newsom and Harris have acknowledged they are considering presidential bids in 2028, but Harris has closely held her intentions.
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Harris → acknowledge → intentions
She said last week that she had not decided whether to run, telling former soccer player Megan Rapinoe in a podcast interview that she was focused on working full time to help Democrats win the midterms.
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Democrats → say → midterms
A spokesperson for Harris declined to comment.
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spokesperson → decline → Harris
Representatives for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request Monday afternoon.
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Representatives → respond → request
Harris has appeared as the party front-runner in multiple polls about 2028, including one in July that showed her beating Newsom by double digits.
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her → appear → digits
But questions have continually circulated within the party about whether voters who are scarred from the party’s 2024 loss would be enthusiastic about a Harris run.
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who → circulate → run
Several California donors told The Times in May that they did not plan to support Harris or did not want to discuss a possible bid by her; in a few corners, more enthusiasm came through for Newsom.
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enthusiasm → tell → Newsom
The dynamics around the 2028 Democratic primary continue to evolve as party hopefuls jockey for the spotlight, and they shifted notably with the selection of South Carolina as the party’s first primary state.
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they → continue → state
That choice could give Harris a boost if South Carolina’s Black voters move in her favor.
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voters → give → favor
Harris and Newsom came up in politics in the same era and have never before run in an election against each other, operating their political careers largely in parallel rather than in competition.
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Harris → come → competition
In February, Newsom said on CNN that he had “never gotten in the way of her ambition” and he didn’t “imagine I would in the future,” saying “fate” would determine whether they ran against each other.
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they → say → other
Though few in the party want to criticize Harris, few appear ready to endorse her.
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few → want → her
Conversations about her prospects often come down to one thing: Democrats’ anxiety about winning.
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Conversations → come → thing
Newsom swung through South Carolina this month, the type of move generally interpreted as laying the groundwork for a presidential bid.
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Newsom → swing → bid
In the CNN interview, Newsom noted that he did not know whether Harris would run and agreed it was a “pretty good case” to make when Tapper raised the argument that Harris had had her chance at the presidency and Newsom had not yet.
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Newsom → note → presidency
The governor suggested that a fight between him and Harris would split their supporters’ vote in a way that would be “a gift from God for everybody else” in the race, saying “it services no greater good” for both of them to run.
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both → suggest → them
He also nodded to their overlapping political circles.
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He → nod → circles
“I know her base of supporters, I know her friends.
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I → know → friends
The [Venn] diagram on that is just pure crossover,” Newsom said.
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Newsom → say → that
“I wouldn’t do that.”
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I → do → that
The interview was filmed in Montana, where Newsom’s in-laws own a ranch, as Newsom and Tapper fly-fished together.
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Newsom → film → ranch
The full segment was set to air Tuesday.
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segment → set → ?
Newsom said that in order to decide to run, a candidate needs to be able to “meet the moment.”
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candidate → say → moment
“You gotta be honest with yourself,” he said.
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he → got → yourself
“Do you represent the zeitgeist of the moment or are you wasting everybody’s time?”
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you → represent → time
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