Kamala Harris plans Southern swing as she considers 2028 White House run

Kamala Harris reportedly plans to address a string of Democratic events in the Deep South next month as she considers mounting a 2028 presidential run.

The former vice president and losing 2024 White House candidate will speak at fundraisers for the state Democratic parties in Georgia, North and South Carolina and Arkansas as she works to bolster support among southern Black voters who have played an outsized role in recent Democratic primary races, CNN reported on Thursday.

Although Harris hasn’t made a decision to run, the southern swing suggests she is keeping her options open as a crowded Democratic field takes shape for a relatively rare open presidential race.

Out of the states Harris will visit, only North Carolina and Georgia are considered viable targets for any Democratic presidential candidate.

But South Carolina is an especially important prize in the Democratic primary race because it is one of the early voting states. In recent Democratic races, the Palmetto State has established the favored candidate of Black Southern voters.

It’s still not known whether Democrats may shake up the order of early voting states or return to the previous setup that allowed the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, both nearly all-white states, to go first.

Team Harris dubs the potential Southern push an “SEC strategy” after college sports’ South East Conference. Harris aides are also discussing similar speeches later in the spring and summer, a person familiar with her plans told CNN.

Polls of the emerging Democratic race put Harris near the top of the pack along with outgoing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Other possible candidates include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, although insiders warn that early polls mostly measure name recognition.

Harris is wrapping up a six-month national book tour promoting her memoir of the shortened 2024 campaign, in which she replaced former President Biden after he abruptly pulled the plug on his planned reelection bid.

Harris passed on throwing her hat in the California governor’s race, for which she would likely have been an odds-on favorite and said she wanted to take a break from the campaign trail while trying to boost Democrats in this year’s midterms.

Harris has already recorded ads for the Democratic National Committee and for Virginia Democrats’ redistricting referendum, scheduled for April 21.  She raised some eyebrows by endorsing Rep. Jasmine Crockett only in the final days of her losing Texas Senate Democratic race against James Talarico.