Kamala Harris might provide the fifth way to chase the White House via the California governorship

When Kamala Harris passed up the opportunity to run for governor of California to succeed Gavin Newsom, I started putting together the various ways the governorship has played in past presidential elections, and I discovered that it had in intriguing and completely different ways.

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As anyone who obsesses about politics like I do knows, it's the most powerful governorship in the land and arguably the most star-making, sans Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was already a star. California’s top job has long drawn the spotlight, especially when the person holding (or declining) it has presidential ambitions.

But the path from Sacramento to the White House has never followed a single road. If anything, the California governorship has become a kind of distinct detour, one that can start, stall, or substitute for a national campaign.

Five Californians, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Kamala Harris, each reveal a different dance with the job, as they ran or contemplated running for president.

In 1962, just two years after narrowly losing the presidency to John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon ran for governor of California and was defeated at the hands of incumbent Pat Brown. It seemed like a career-ender.

At a bitter press conference following the loss, Nixon lashed out at the media, saying, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”

Since I was a kid, I always thought that line was humorous, and when he uttered it, I don’t think anyone really believed him. As he might say in the way he spoke about himself in the third person, “Nixon craved power.” I gleaned that from the numerous books I read about him and by him.

The moment was so “woe is me” and defiant Dick Nixon. After he lost, he famously left California, moved to New York, practiced law, made lots of money, built credibility, and launched one of the most stunning political comebacks in American history when he finally won the presidency in 1968.

The California governorship didn’t set Nixon in motion. Instead, it rejected him, but the humiliation enhanced his ambition. Having already tasted the presidency, as a two-term vice president to Dwight Eisenhower, and narrowly missing out in 1960, Nixon was determined to finish the job.

Ronald Reagan took the opposite approach. Elected governor in 1966 and again in 1970, Reagan was not term-limited. But rather than seek a third term in 1974, he stepped aside to chase what he’d long wanted, the presidency of the United States. By November 1975, he formally launched a primary challenge to sitting President Gerald Ford.

That was really big news at the time. Based on all the books I’ve read about Reagan, many in the party told him to sit out 1976 so as not to split the party (he was ultraconservative, and Ford was considered more moderate) and suggested he wait until 1980 when he had a clearer shot.

But he ran, really gave Ford a run for his money, and dramatically raised his profile. It was the last time there was a GOP contested convention, and that is how Ford finally got Reagan out of the race. Yes, as a 12 year-old political prodigy, I was mesmerized by all the drama.

Though he fell short of the nomination in 1976, the campaign made him the darling of the conservative base, and put Reagan on the national radar. Over the next four years, he bolstered his message, his team, and his public appeal. Since Ford lost, and many considered Jimmy Carter too liberal, Reagan smartly pushed hard on his conservative creds.

In 1980, with the Republican Party fully behind him, he defeated Jimmy Carter and became the first Californian ever elected president. Reagan most likely understood that staying in office in California risked him being tied to his job. Better to bow out on top and focus on the bigger prize.

And as we saw with Nixon, once you’ve gotten close to the presidency, it becomes intoxicating.

No one better embodies the strange zigzagging between the capitol of California and the nation’s capital than Jerry Brown. He was elected governor in 1974, and for many reasons, he was the antithesis of Reagan. He was a cerebral, quirky, ascetic politician who spurned the trappings of power and earned the nickname “Governor Moonbeam.”

And what I most remember about Brown was that he dated singer Linda Ronstadt. I had a 45 record of her song “You’re No Good.” But back to Brown.

He ran for president in 1976 and came in a distant second to Carter in the Democratic primaries. He ran again in 1980, barely registering, and in 1992, coming in second to Clinton. Brown never got particularly close to the nomination.

His reputation for flakiness and idealism made him interesting, but during those years, not electable, at least on a national scale. After a long hiatus, Brown returned to the governorship in 2011 and served until 2019. But by then, the White House was no longer in the cards.

Today, Gavin Newsom finds himself at a different intersection on the road to the White House. Term-limited and nearing the end of his second term as governor, he’s clearly eyeing a presidential run in 2028.

Unlike Nixon, Reagan, or Brown, Newsom is playing the long game, using media, particularly podcasts, videos, and online platforms, to nationalize his profile.

Since 2021, Newsom’s: This Is Gavin Newsom podcast has featured interviews with political and cultural figures including the abysmal Charlie Kirk. In 2024 he launched Politickin’, which he cohosts with NFL star Marshawn Lynch and agent Doug Hendrickson.

Obviously, he uses these platforms to test messages and float or change his policies, ideas, and positions. He can go with the wind, but I digress.

Just this week, Newsom signed an executive order addressing mental health disparities for boys and young men. It’s an overtly obvious action designed to address worries Democrats don’t relate to male voters, or “bros” to some, and hints at the kind of coalitions he hopes to build.

Newsom has been rumored as a presidential contender for years, and everything about his current posture screams, “It’s my turn, damn it!” He’s also making news for his polished videos going after Donald Trump on the big beautiful bill and Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles. They make him look like Trump’s campaign opponent.

Finally, there’s Kamala Harris, who this week declined to run for California governor, and many observers believe she’s preparing another run at the presidency in 2028. Harris has had the closest proximity to power of any Democrat not named Joe Biden or Barack Obama for the last 15 years.

As vice president from 2021 to 2025,and as the Democratic nominee in the turbulent 2024 race, Harris can almost reach out and touch the Oval Office.

Her loss in 2024 was a surprise to many, but the jury is still out on if it diminished her stature. She does, however, have a better sense about what went wrong and what she’d do differently in a 2028 run.

And if there’s ever a dead giveaway to someone contemplating running, Harris is writing a book about the 2024 campaign, which will undoubtedly include a national book tour, a precursor to a national campaign.

What unites all five of these figures is not just that they’re Californians. It’s that they’ve each tangoed with the California governorship in different ways on the road to the White House.

Nixon lost it and turned that loss into motivation. Reagan gave it up by choice. Brown turned it into a Lombard Street curvy ride. Newsom is leveraging it. Harris walked away from it entirely..

Ultimately, the California governorship is not a guaranteed launching pad, but it has proved to be a stage that provides visibility, symbolism, and national fascination. That is except for former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who was summarily recalled in 2003, with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger taking his place and bringing the pizzazz and star power back to Sacramento.

Many wanted Schwarzenegger to run for president, but since he wasn’t born in the United States, he was prohibited from running. If he had been, then “recall” would have been the sixth variable of the California governorship and the presidency.

The job definitely offers a front-row seat to America’s evolving demographics. California is the nation’s most populated state, its economy is the world's fourth largest, and the state has the most media markets. It’s a mini-U.S., and at present, a more democratic one.

All that said, the California governorship is either the last stop before Washington or a test ride that governors and would-bes need to pass, endure, or reject on the way to the White House. Now all eyes are on how Harris will ride this out.

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