Kamala Harris visits the Sacramento headquarters for a Democratic campaign event. Then she delivers a joke and is met with silence: ‘Come on now’

On Friday, Kamala Harris stopped at Dr. Richard Pan’s campaign headquarters in Sacramento and spoke to the people backing his bid for Congress. Pan is running in California’s 6th Congressional District. Standing in his way is Representative Kevin Kiley, who used to run as a Republican and is now on the ballot as an independent.

Harris spent part of her remarks on Kiley’s record. She said he was “trying to hide behind being an independent now.” Footage obtained by the Sacramento Bee shows her continuing in that vein: “Oh, I’m not that guy. I’m now this guy.” She then said, “Well, this guy who was that guy and is still this guy and that guy.”

The room did not give her the reaction she seemed to be waiting for. Harris paused, then said, “Come on now,” and laughed. The Sacramento appearance fits a wider stretch of campaign travel she has taken on before the November midterms.

Democrats widen the House map while Harris books more events

Harris is not limiting the fall schedule to California. She is also set to campaign for Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff and for Aaron Ford, the Democratic candidate for governor in Nevada. She has said winning races this November comes first, even though she is widely tipped to consider another presidential run in 2028.

She put that focus in plain terms during a September interview on Megan Rapinoe’s podcast. “Right now, midterms, midterms, midterms full time occupying my thoughts, my mind and my work,” she said.

In Pan’s own race, the prediction market Kalshi currently lists him as the heavy favorite. The market shows a 93.4 percent chance that he wins, set against an 11 percent chance for Kiley.

California’s 6th District is one piece of a larger Democratic effort to take the House on November 3. To hold a majority, the party needs 218 seats, which means a net gain of three.

Last month, the Cook Political Report published an analysis that projected Democrats picking up at least 15 House seats. That same look at the map put expected Senate gains between one and five seats.

The party is also pressing into places Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024. New York’s 21st District and Tennessee’s redrawn 9th are on that list, and Trump carried each by 21 points. Arkansas’ 2nd, Florida’s 27th, Nevada’s 2nd, and Colorado’s 3rd are on it as well. Trump’s margins there were 16, 15, 14, and 10 points.

On Sunday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee placed those six seats in its “Red to Blue” program. The party’s chances of taking the chamber are a subject of fresh analysis, as forecasters now give Democrats a 67 percent shot at flipping the House.

Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s leader in the House, said, “House Democrats are poised to take back the majority.” If Democrats do take the chamber, the New York congressman would be in line to replace Mike Johnson as speaker.