Kamala Harris returned to the campaign trail in Georgia on Thursday, speaking at Clark Atlanta University as who is running for president in 2026 again comes into view. She has not yet ruled out another run for the Democratic nomination, keeping that question open after her 2024 defeat.
At the campus event, Harris told the crowd, "I’ve come here to remind you, don’t ever let anybody take your power from you" and "Don’t ever let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are!" Sanaiya Archer, a sophomore at Spelman College in Atlanta, called her a "big sister general" and said, "I’m at an HBCU."
Clark Atlanta University and Atlanta
Harris’s appearance came after a run of stops for Democratic candidates in other places. She appeared at a high school rally in Columbus, Mississippi, earlier this month, took part in a rural healthcare roundtable in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and met with unionized culinary workers in Las Vegas in October.
She also campaigned for David Crowley in Wisconsin, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan in September. That pattern shows she is back in public support mode while not committing to another White House campaign.
2024 and the 107-day campaign
Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump after a 107-day campaign for the White House. She is the country’s first female and first Black vice-president, and her return to the trail now gives Democrats a familiar name while they look toward the midterm elections.
At Clark Atlanta University, she also told the audience, "You cried. I heard you. Anger, depression, sadness, frustration, a sense of – of helplessness and powerlessness, folks feeling like, ‘I’m watching all this happen, but I can’t do anything about it’." She added, "That moment has passed."
Democratic candidates and Harris
For Democrats, Harris’s appearances serve two functions at once: helping candidates in current races and keeping her own future choice unresolved. That leaves her in a familiar role as a national campaign figure without a declared 2028 path.
The open question is whether she will make that decision before the next presidential race hardens around other names. For now, she is back on the trail, and she is leaving the door open.
