Longtime frenemies Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom reach career crossroads

Three decades ago, thanks to the patronage of legendary San Francisco politician Willie Brown, two young, ambitious politicians launched careers that have taken them into the upper strata of American politics.

As state Assembly speaker, Brown appointed Kamala Harris, with whom he had a personal relationship, to two well-paying state boards and in 1998, as mayor of San Francisco, helped her land a job in the district attorney’s office.

That career move led to her becoming district attorney in 2004, California attorney general six years later and a U.S. senator six years after that. After her four years in the Senate (and a failed 2020 presidential run) Joe Biden made her his vice presidential running mate in 2020 and, finally, endorsed her as his successor in 2024, only to see her lose to Donald Trump.

It was an extremely fast climb up the political ladder, from local civil servant to presidential nominee, but Brown’s other protégé, Gavin Newsom, was also climbing quickly.

In the early 90s, Newsom had founded a restaurant-wine-hotel business called Plumpjack, the title of an opera written by oil fortune heir Gordon Getty, whose personal trust provided early financial support.

In 1996 Mayor Brown appointed the young businessman to the city’s Parking and Traffic Commission, then to the city Board of Supervisors, setting up Newsom’s successful campaign for mayor in 2003.

Newsom wanted to run for governor in 2010 but stepped aside when former Gov. Jerry Brown decided he wanted another crack at governing California. Newsom, with obvious reluctance, ran for lieutenant governor and bided his time in the powerless office until Brown retired again, allowing Newsom to claim the governorship in 2018.

Now, a year after Harris lost her second presidential bid, the two politicians whose relationship has always featured elements of both mutual support and rivalry, find themselves at a crossroads.

Harris is promoting her book about the presidential campaign, “107 Days,” which digs into other politicians, including Newsom. She wrote that she tried to reach Newsom after Biden’s decision not to seek re-election but Newsom’s reply was “Hiking. Will Call Back.”

“He never did,” Harris added.

Newsom later told reporters that an unknown number popped up on his phone that day, and only later did he realize it had been Harris. “That exact same moment, was working with my team to draft a statement,” he said. “I assume that’s in the book as well.”

Harris’ book did not mention Newsom’s endorsement.

As Harris peddles her book she brushes aside questions about running again in 2028, but Newsom is no longer hiding his ambition to climb the final rung on the nation’s political ladder three years hence.

He already claims the role of Donald Trump’s most strident critic, trolling the president with snide and sometimes vulgar social media postings, and denouncing virtually every presidential decree.

Newsom is also sponsoring a November ballot measure, Proposition 50, that would, if successful, shift five California congressional seats from Republicans to Democrats to thwart Republican gerrymanders as the parties vie for control of the House of Representatives next year.

On Tuesday, Newsom took his crusade to a very friendly venue, Stephen Colbert’s talk show, fielding the host’s softball questions and running through his litany of Trump’s sins.

“This guy is flooding the zone, dominating the narratives. Facts don’t seem to matter, and Democrats, frankly, have had a difficult time pushing back,” Newsom told Colbert.

Newsom couldn’t resist taking an oblique shot at Harris for her losing campaign, without naming her. “As the Democratic Party, we have a lot of work to do to make up for our failures in the past,” he said. “We got crushed in this last election.”

The remark reflected what has been — and obviously still is — a decades-long relationship of frenemies.