One of President Donald Trump’s top aides said Friday that if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the race for California governor, he might too.
“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, and I wouldn’t say no,” Richard Grenell told reporters Friday in Munich.
Grenell is a longtime Trump loyalist who has served as a jack-of-all-trades for the president. As Trump’s U.S. envoy for special missions, Grenell joined Trump in Los Angeles to survey the wildfire damage, traveled to Venezuela for a meeting with President Nicolás Maduro that led to the release of six hostages and was named the Kennedy Center’s interim executive director after Trump purged its old board. During Trump’s first term, Grenell served as ambassador to Germany and briefly as acting director of national intelligence.
He laid the groundwork for a gubernatorial run in California in 2021 but announced on Fox News he would not run a day before the candidate filing deadline.
Grenell, a Los Angeles area resident, has been omnipresent in the city physically and on social media since the devastating fires, harshly criticizing Mayor Karen Bass and other Democratic leaders. He was at Trump’s side when the president visited the Pacific Palisades last month and returned last week for a recovery tour with Bass and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Grenell is not the first Republican this cycle to ponder leading the deep-blue state after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out of office next year. Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host, is also considering throwing his hat in the ring, POLITICO reported. And Chad Bianco, a firebrand Southern California sheriff, is also expected to run.
Democrats have a significant electoral advantage in the state, which went to Harris by an over 20-point margin in 2024. The last Republican to serve as governor was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was in Sacramento from 2003 to 2011.
Harris has made multiple public appearances in Los Angeles, where she lives, since leaving Washington last month. She has brushed aside questions about a potential gubernatorial bid, though she has privately told aides she’s considering the option.
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