Former Vice President Kamala Harris is revving up her involvement in the midterms. While some Democrats are eager to embrace her, others want her to steer clear.<\/p>\n

Harris is planning to attend a canvass launch with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford for his gubernatorial bid next month in Las Vegas, his campaign told Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs anyone who is interested in 2028 should do, Kamala Harris will be coming through. We are a pivotal state in the presidential election,\u201d Ford said in an interview in Las Vegas on Tuesday. \u201c2028 starts right now in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 plans to visit Nevada signal yet another step into the fray of the midterms \u2014 and the national political stage. On Tuesday, she publicly backed Rep. Chris Pappas<\/u> in his Senate bid in New Hampshire, a must-hold seat for the party in a state that Harris narrowly won<\/u> in 2024. And she waded into three House races, two Democratic-leaning districts in her home<\/u><\/a> state<\/u><\/a> and a solidly Republican one in Tennessee<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Harris had kept a relatively low profile so far on the campaign trail. Some Democrats prefer it that way.<\/p>\n

Iowa\u2019s two most prominent Democratic candidates have said they do not want Harris to campaign for them. Alaska\u2019s Democratic Senate nominee rejected a fundraising solicitation Harris sent on her behalf. And a swing-district Democrat in Wisconsin and a long-shot Senate hopeful in Kansas both told Blue Light News they would prefer Harris keep her distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received 9,000 more votes than Harris in 2024,\u201d Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in western Wisconsin, said in a statement when asked by Blue Light News. \u201cI don\u2019t need anyone to come and campaign with me in my district. I do the work of building relationships \u2014 including across the aisle \u2014 on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arm\u2019s-length treatment isn\u2019t necessarily surprising: red-state and rural Democrats have long been hesitant to tie themselves to national Democratic figures. They are increasingly distancing themselves now as polls show the Democratic brand remains underwater even as President Donald Trump\u2019s own standing with voters continues to drop. Trump\u2019s approval hit a weak 36 percent in a recent poll conducted by The Economic and YouGov<\/u><\/a>, while a separate survey <\/u><\/a>from the pollster showed over 56 percent of registered voters disapproved of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 favorability numbers at the end of last year only stood at 42 percent<\/u><\/a>. As the party\u2019s most recent presidential nominee, she is one of its most prominent avatars.<\/p>\n

A Cooke campaign aide, granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations, said Cooke\u2019s team has turned down campaign offers from other national Democrats as she focuses on making a personal case to voters in one of the party\u2019s top target districts this fall.<\/p>\n

Cooke hasn\u2019t warded off everyone, however: During her primary she leaned heavily into support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), featuring him in campaign ads; his team also sent texts to help turn out voters. She also has accepted endorsements from potential 2028 candidates like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).<\/p>\n

Other high-profile Democrats, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/u><\/a>, have similarly stayed relatively low-key with their own endorsements so far. He\u2019s faced some Democratic distancing himself: Stefany Shaheen, who is running for a House seat in New Hampshire, emphasized her support from Granite Staters<\/u><\/a> when asked about a fundraising email the governor sent on her behalf last month.<\/p>\n

Harris, like other potential presidential candidates, needs to build a network of friends and favors \u2014 much of which she has already developed from her own runs for Senate, the White House and her four years as vice president \u2014 while staying relevant. She retains a powerful fundraising network that can help down-ticket Democrats, too.<\/p>\n

But in many parts of the country where she lost, her involvement could be a drag for Democrats otherwise facing strong political tailwinds in the midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all good,\u201d Eduardo Negr\u00f3n, a spokesperson for Harris, said in a statement. \u201cVice President Harris will continue to raise money and travel on behalf of candidates in races where she can help make a difference. With Trump so unpopular and our deep bench of strong candidates, we are now seeing deeply red states in play this cycle. The Vice President believes we should be ruthless about competing everywhere and that means giving candidates in tough races the space to do whatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 recent ramp-up marks a shift from what had been an otherwise quiet midterms strategy that has focused primarily on standing by close preexisting relationships<\/u><\/a>. It\u2019s strikingly different from other potential 2028 presidential candidates who\u2019ve endorsed more widely<\/u><\/a> and been more prominent on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n