(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Kamala Harris’s forthcoming memoir is less a campaign diary than a political reckoning, laying bare her frustrations with top Democrats who hesitated to back her or fell short as potential running mates.
In 107 Days, due out next week, the former vice president revisits the whiplash summer of 2024, when former President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed her as his successor. The book, however, catalogues the grudges, rivalries, and awkward phone calls that followed as she sought out a running mate.
Few come away totally unscathed, according to a Politico review.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Shapiro, widely seen as a rising star, gets the harshest treatment. Harris calls him “poised, polished and personable,” but paints him as too ambitious and indiscreet. She recalls Shapiro “peppering” her and her staff with questions about the vice presidency, even quizzing the residence manager about the number of bedrooms and “how he might arrange to get Pennsylvania artists’ work on loan from the Smithsonian.”
She also accuses him of a “lack of discretion” when CNN filmed his motorcade outside her home. His spokesperson dismissed her account as “simply ridiculous,” insisting Shapiro was focused on beating Donald Trump.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer earns a mention for her caution and hesitancy to step out on her behalf. Harris recalls Whitmer backing her privately but saying she needed to “let the dust settle” before endorsing her publicly.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Pritzker is noted for having been similarly noncommittal, pointing out that his state was hosting the Democratic National Convention.
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigeig is reportedly portrayed with most warmth and her first choice for vice president, although “too big a risk.” Harris recalls that in the chaotic hours after Biden’s withdrawal, Buttigieg was first to pledge support.
“Before you say anything, I’m all in,” he told her.
She praises his “resume, his political chops and his husband, Chasten.” Yet she decided against him, concluding: “We were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, Screw it, let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big a risk.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
Walz, who Harris ultimately picked, is painted as modest and grounded. Harris credits him with “an appealing authenticity and was genuinely self-deprecating.” Unlike Shapiro, he made no demands for influence, admitting he had “no specific vision of the role of vice president.”
Harris recalls that while her husband, Doug Emhoff, leaned toward Shapiro, Walz emerged as the consensus choice of staff and family. She sealed the decision, she writes, over a pork roast dinner.
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Harris reportedly fails to mention that Newsom posted an endorsement of her within hours of her candidacy and rather frames his response around a dismissive text message after she reached out.
“Hiking. Will call back,” Newsom replied. In her notes, Harris wrote: “He never did.” Harris adds little more, despite their decades of parallel careers in California politics. Newsom’s office declined to comment, though he did post an endorsement within hours.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
Kelly fares better, Politico reports, but not without caveats. Harris praises him as “magnetic” but frets that he had not yet had an “Oh sh*t moment” in his political career. She feared his military service could be weaponized, much as John Kerry’s had been, and concluded: “I realized I couldn’t afford to test Mark Kelly in that ugly grinder.”
Still, Kelly was so quick to back her that he tweeted his endorsement before she even reached out to him.
107 Days, published by Simon & Schuster, will hit bookshelves on Sept. 23, 2025.
The post Kamala Harris Spares No Democrat in Bruising Memoir — Here’s Who She Calls Out first appeared on Mediaite.
