Kamala Harris’s voice rang out across a convention hall packed with California Democratic activists, and she wore a beaming smile.
But the former vice president was not in the room where 4,000 party delegates had gathered in Anaheim, Calif., to prepare for next year’s elections. Instead, she spoke to them through a three-minute video address that drew tepid applause.
Ever since Ms. Harris returned home to California in January after losing last year’s presidential race, Democrats have wondered whether she would run for governor in 2026. Her entry would shake up the race, and many observers believe she would be the front-runner. But she has made few public appearances and offered little indication of which way she is leaning.
Her absence from the hall in Anaheim this weekend loomed over the state party convention like the pair of large video screens that carried her message. And that left many party activists questioning just how seriously she was considering running.
Some said they weren’t sure they wanted her to enter the race. “I don’t think she should get into the campaign for governor,” said Mark Gracyk, a delegate from San Diego who works for a water utility. “The working class would say, ‘Oh there she is again, she has the support of the elites.’”
Ms. Harris plans to decide by the end of the summer whether to run. She is weighing other possibilities, including another presidential run in 2028 or retiring from electoral politics. A spokeswoman for Ms. Harris did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
