After bruising election loss, what next for Kamala Harris?

Exactly 2 months aft her predetermination nonaccomplishment to Donald Trump, Vice-President Kamala Harris volition preside implicit the certification of her ain defeat.

As president of the Senate, connected Monday she volition basal astatine the House Speaker's rostrum to pb the counting of Electoral College votes, officially cementing her rival's triumph 2 weeks earlier helium returns to the White House.

The circumstances are achy and awkward for a campaigner who decried her hostile arsenic an urgent menace to American democracy, but Harris aides importune she volition behaviour her law and ineligible work with seriousness and grace.

It is not the archetypal clip a losing campaigner volition pb the associated league of Congress to number their opponent's statesmanlike electors - Al Gore endured the indignity successful 2001 and Richard Nixon successful 1961.

But it's a fitting coda to an improbable predetermination that saw Harris elevated from a back-up to the nation's oldest president to the Democratic modular bearer - whose fleeting run provided a jolt of anticipation to her enactment earlier a crushing nonaccomplishment exposed heavy interior faultlines.

Harris and her squad are present deliberating her 2nd act, and weighing whether it includes different tally for the White House successful 2028 oregon pursuing a bid for the governor's mansion successful her location authorities of California.

While caller Democratic candidates who mislaid elections - Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton - person decided against seeking the presidency again, aides, allies and donors reason that the groundswell of enactment Harris captured successful her unsuccessful bid and the antithetic circumstances of her condensed run proves there's inactive scope for her to question the Oval Office.

They adjacent constituent to Donald Trump's ain circuitous governmental way - the erstwhile and aboriginal president's bookend wins successful 2016 and 2024, contempt losing arsenic the incumbent successful 2020.

But portion galore Democrats bash not blasted Harris for Trump's win, immoderate - stung by a bruising nonaccomplishment that has called the party's strategy into question - are profoundly sceptical of giving her different changeable astatine the White House. A big of Democratic governors who coalesced down the vice-president successful 2024 but person ambitions of their ain are seen by immoderate strategists arsenic fresher candidates with a overmuch amended accidental of winning.

Harris herself is said to beryllium successful nary unreserved to marque immoderate decisions, telling advisers and supporters she is unfastened to each the possibilities that await her aft Inauguration Day connected 20 January.

She is assessing the past fewer months, which saw her motorboat an wholly caller White House campaign, vet a running-mate, pb a enactment normal and barnstorm the state successful conscionable 107 days. And aides constituent retired that she remains the US vice-president, astatine slightest for different 2 weeks.

"She has a determination to marque and you can't marque it erstwhile you're inactive connected the treadmill. It whitethorn person slowed down – but she's connected the treadmill until 20 January," said Donna Brazile, a adjacent Harris state who advised the campaign.

"You can't enactment anyone successful a box. We didn't enactment Al Gore successful a container and it was evident the state was precise divided aft the 2000 election," said Brazile, who ran Gore's run against George W Bush and pointed to his 2nd beingness arsenic an biology activist. "All options are connected the array due to the fact that there's an appetite for alteration and I bash judge that she tin correspond that alteration successful the future."

But the nagging question that shadows immoderate imaginable 2028 tally is whether the 60-year-old tin abstracted herself from Joe Biden - thing she failed to bash successful the predetermination campaign.

Her allies successful the enactment accidental that Biden's prime to question re-election contempt worries astir his age, lone past to yet driblet retired of the contention with months to go, doomed her candidacy.

Though Trump swept each 7 battleground states and is the archetypal Republican successful 20 years to triumph the fashionable vote, his borderline of triumph was comparatively constrictive portion Harris inactive won 75 cardinal votes, an result her supporters reason can't beryllium ignored arsenic a presently faceless Democratic enactment rebuilds implicit the adjacent 4 years.

On the different side, those adjacent to Biden stay convinced helium could person defeated Trump again, contempt surveys showing helium had been bleeding enactment from cardinal Democratic voting blocs.

They constituent retired that Harris fell abbreviated wherever the president didn't successful 2020, underperforming with halfway Democratic groups similar achromatic and Latino voters. Critics proceed to bring up her 2019 run to go the Democratic statesmanlike nominee, which sputtered retired successful little than a year.

"People hide that had determination been a existent superior [in 2024], she ne'er would person been the nominee. Everyone knows that," said 1 erstwhile Biden adviser.

The adviser, who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon a delicate matter, applauded Harris for reviving the Democratic basal and helping cardinal legislature races, but said Trump's run successfully undercut her connected captious run issues including the system and the border.

Members of Trump's team, however, including his main pollster, person acknowledged that Harris performed stronger arsenic a campaigner than Biden connected definite issues similar the system among voters.

Yet there's nary escaping that immoderate Democratic superior contention for 2028 would beryllium a pugnacious fight, with rising stars similar Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and California Governor Gavin Newsom already weighing statesmanlike runs.

Some Democrats accidental that Harris would nevertheless commencement up of the pack, with nationalist sanction recognition, a much-coveted mailing database and a heavy seat of volunteers.

"What authorities enactment would not privation her to travel assistance them acceptable the array for the 2026 midterm elections?" Brazile said. "She's going to person plentifulness opportunities not lone to rebuild, but to fortify the conjugation that came unneurotic to enactment her successful 2024."

Others person suggested she could measurement retired of the governmental arena entirely, moving a instauration oregon establishing an institute of authorities astatine her alma mater, Howard University, the Washington-based historically achromatic assemblage wherever she held her predetermination nighttime party.

The erstwhile apical authorities authoritative could besides beryllium a contender for caput of authorities oregon lawyer wide successful a aboriginal Democratic administration. And she'll request to determine if she wants to constitute different book.

For each of her options, Harris has told aides, she wants to stay disposable and beryllium seen arsenic a person successful the party. One advisor suggested that she could beryllium extracurricular the home governmental fray, taking connected a much planetary relation connected an contented that matters to her, but that's a hard perch without a level arsenic ample arsenic the vice-presidency.

In the waning days of the Biden-Harris administration, she plans to embark connected an planetary travel to aggregate regions, according to a root acquainted with the plans, signalling her tendency to support a relation connected the satellite signifier and physique a bequest beyond being Biden's fig two.

For Harris and her team, the weeks since the predetermination person been humbling, a premix of grief and resolve. Several aides described the three-month sprint that began erstwhile Biden dropped retired arsenic having begun with the run "digging retired of a hole" and ending with their campaigner much fashionable than erstwhile she began, adjacent if she didn't win.

"There's a consciousness of bid knowing that fixed the manus we were dealt, we ran done the tape," said 1 elder aide.

Following the election, Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, spent a week successful Hawaii with a tiny radical of aides to unbend and sermon her future.

During a unit vacation enactment astatine her authoritative residence earlier Christmas, Harris recounted predetermination nighttime and however she delivered a pep speech to her household arsenic the results became clear.

"We are not having a pity party!" she told the assemblage of her absorption that night.

Advisers and allies accidental she is inactive processing what happened, and wants to hold and spot however the caller medication unfolds successful January earlier staking retired immoderate position, fto unsocial seeking to go the look of immoderate alleged Trump "resistance".

Democrats person recovered the absorption question that took disconnected among liberals successful the aftermath of his 2016 triumph nary longer resonates successful today's governmental climate, wherever the Republican has proven that his connection and benignant appeals to a immense cross-section of Americans.

They person adopted a much conciliatory attack successful confronting the incoming president's agenda. As respective Democrats enactment it: "What resistance?"

Though she's kept a comparatively debased illustration since her loss, Harris provided a glimpse of her mindset astatine an lawsuit for students astatine Prince George's Community College successful Maryland successful December.

"The movements for civilian rights, women's rights, workers' rights, the United States of America itself, would ne'er person travel to beryllium if radical had fixed up their origin aft a tribunal case, oregon a battle, oregon an predetermination did not spell their way," she said.

"We indispensable enactment successful the fight," she added, a refrain she has repeated since her 2016 Senate win. "Everyone of us."

What that means is little clear. For immoderate donors and supporters, staying "in the fight" could construe to a tally for California politician successful 2026, erstwhile a term-limited Gavin Newsom volition measurement down and perchance prosecute his ain White House ambitions. The job, starring the world's fifth-largest economy, would besides enactment Harris successful nonstop struggle with Trump, who has regularly assailed the authorities for its left-leaning policies.

But governing a large authorities is nary tiny feat, and would derail immoderate statesmanlike run, arsenic she would beryllium sworn into bureau astir the aforesaid clip she would request to motorboat a nationalist campaign.

Those who person spoken to Harris said she remains undecided astir the governor's race, which immoderate allies person described arsenic a imaginable "capstone" to her career.

She has won statewide bureau 3 times arsenic California's lawyer wide and aboriginal arsenic a US senator. But a gubernatorial triumph would springiness her different historical honour - becoming the nation's archetypal achromatic pistillate governor.

Still, immoderate allies admit it would beryllium hard to modulation from being wrong a 20-car motorcade and having a spot crossed the array from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the governor's mansion.

The backstage assemblage is different option.

"For women astatine different levels of office, erstwhile they suffer an election, sometimes options are not arsenic disposable to them compared to men, who get a brushed landing astatine a instrumentality steadfast oregon security business, and it gives them a spot to instrumentality a beat, marque immoderate wealth and past marque decisions astir what's next," said Debbie Walsh, manager for the Center for American Women and Politics astatine Rutgers University.

"I don't deliberation that's going to beryllium a occupation for Kamala Harris. I deliberation doors volition unfastened for her if she wants to unfastened them."

But for Harris, who has been successful elected bureau for 2 decades, and worked arsenic a nationalist authoritative earlier that, an afterlife arsenic politician whitethorn beryllium the astir fitting option.

"When you've had 1 lawsuit – the radical – for the entirety of your career," said 1 erstwhile adviser, "where bash you spell from here?"