Newsom says he will not run if Harris does

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the race, signaling that he does not want to turn a Democratic primary into a California-on-California fight.

“I wouldn’t run if she ran,” Newsom told CNN in an interview that aired Monday evening.

Newsom and Harris, both California Democrats, are widely viewed as potential contenders for the next Democratic presidential nomination. Harris served as California attorney general and then as a U.S. senator before becoming vice president. Newsom, who has not run for president before, has been considering a White House bid as his term as governor nears its end.

Newsom said challenging Harris would hand an advantage to other candidates and waste voters’ time.

“They’d enjoy the hell out of it. Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good. Why would I do this if I wasn’t trying to serve some greater good? There would be no upside whatsoever,” he said.

In the CNN interview with anchor Jake Tapper, conducted while the two fly fished on Montana’s Bitterroot River, Newsom said the overlap between his political network and Harris’ would make a contest between them especially difficult.

“The zen diagram on that, it’s pure cross over,” Newsom said, referring to the shared circles of supporters around the two politicians. “I wouldn’t do that to people.”

He also said he would not want to force their shared allies into a divided primary.

“I know her base of supporters; I know her friends,” Newsom said. “I wouldn’t do that to people.”

Newsom acknowledged there would be an argument for running against Harris because she has already sought the presidency. Harris ran in 2020 and again in 2024.

“That would be the case you’d make. Pretty good one, actually. You know, that’s objectively true,” Newsom said.

But he said such a race would be a “gift” to their political opponents. The Guardian reported that he described it as a “gift from God” to those opponents and told Tapper, “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t waste everybody’s time.”

Harris has not announced whether she will run in 2028. In July, she said she had “not made a decision” and was focused on the midterm elections. Earlier this year, at an April event with the Rev. Al Sharpton, Harris said she was “thinking about it” when asked about the possibility of a third presidential campaign.

Harris has maintained a relatively quiet public profile since losing the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump, The Guardian reported. Newsom, by contrast, has increasingly cast himself as a Trump critic, including through sharp social media posts and a California redistricting ballot initiative aimed at responding to Republican-led redistricting efforts before the midterm elections, according to The Guardian.

Newsom said he considered running in 2024 but “wasn’t ready,” and he is still weighing whether he will be ready for 2028.

“You have to meet the moment,” he said. “You have to be honest with yourself. Do you represent the zeitgeist of the moment? Are you wasting everybody’s time?”

Newsom previously told CBS News he would seriously consider a presidential run after the 2026 elections. He also recently traveled to South Carolina, the first state scheduled to hold a Democratic primary in 2028, and confirmed he was considering a run.

Harris’ office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Newsom’s remarks. Newsom’s office also did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for additional comment.