California Attorney General Rob Bonta says he won't run in the state's open governor's seat in 2026, with a potential bid for the seat by former state Attorney General and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris looming large over the upcoming contest.

Bonta announced Wednesday that he had ended tentative plans to run after Republican President Donald Trump won the election because he would need to oppose the president's executive orders. 

Still, he made clear that if former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, a former California attorney general U.S. senator, entered the race, she would likely be the presumptive primary frontrunner and perhaps general election winner in the liberal-leaning state. 

“Kamala Harris would be a great governor,” he said. “I would support her if she ran. I’ve always supported her in everything she’s done. She would be field-clearing.”

Democrat Gov. Gavin Newson is leaving the post because of term limits.

Bonta says he hasn't spoken with Harris but told Politico: “It’s important to always assess the moment that you’re in. The political world changes in seconds, overnight at times.”

A University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies poll on Nov. 13, 2024, about 10 days after Harris lost reelection, found 46% of state voters would be very or somewhat likely to support Harris in 2026. 

Co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, the poll also found roughly 72% of state Democrats would "likely" or "somewhat likely" consider voting for Harris. 

“Nearly all voters in this state have an opinion of her, and that’s really the big advantage that she brings to an early poll,” Mark DiCamillo, said the director of the Berkeley IGS Poll. “None of the other candidates are as well known to the voting public.”

At the end of 2024, Harris told her advisers and allies to keep her political options open.

"I am staying in the fight," she told them in phone calls, according to Politico.

A Democratic strategist told the Times that Harris will likely announce whether she plans to run for governor by late spring.

The Washington Examiner also reported that former California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, another potential frontrunner, said during a University of California, Irvine, panel interview last year that if Harris "were to choose to run, I am certain that that would have a near field-clearing effect on the Democratic side."

Last year's poll by Puck News/Echelon Insights also showed that Democrats would support Harris if she decides to run for president again in 2028, with 41% of likely Democratic voters telling the pollsters they would vote for her.