Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor next year, leaving open the possibility that she could mount a third run for the White House in 2028.

In her most extensive public remarks since leaving office in January following her defeat to Trump, Harris said Wednesday she’s inspired by Americans fighting Trump’s agenda despite threats to their freedom or livelihood.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas and Florida are growing rapidly. California, Illinois and New York are shrinking. With America’s population shifting to the South, political influence is seeping from reliably Democratic states to areas controlled by Republicans. Coming out of a presidential election where they lost all seven swing states, Democrats are facing a demographic challenge that could reduce their path to winning the U.S. House of Representatives or the White House for the long term.

The outgoing Democratic president also told USA Today in the interview published Wednesday that he tried during his Oval Office meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to discourage the Republican from going after his political opponents, as he has said he would.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 election in proceedings that unfolded Monday without challenge, in stark contrast to the Jan. 6, 2021, violence as his mob of supporters stormed the Capitol.

The lower turnout in the November election also followed low turnout in the March primary, which featured uncontested presidential primaries in Illinois after challengers dropped out of the race by the time it was Illinois’ turn to vote.

On the last day ballots will be counted, unofficial totals in Chicago show where the vote shifted since 2020. Much like the United States, voters in Illinois were driven by factors including economics, immigration and education in the presidential race.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in a news conference on Thursday signaled that Democratic leaders are discussing what, if any, actions the state may take to gird itself against the future Trump administration.

The decisive defeat leaves Democrats to pick up the pieces and figure out a path forward for their party after notching across the board defeats in the expected swing states. Both Republicans and Democrats in Chicago on Wednesday analyzed the results of the election and what it might say about the future of the country. 

Former President Donald Trump ran a campaign with messages on mass deportation, higher tariffs and anti-transgender rhetoric that drew in swaths of voters from the coveted swing states needed to secure the win.

With Vice President Kamala Harris conceding the race for the White House, Illinois Democrats who’d served as surrogates for her on the campaign trail weighed in for the first time on her loss.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her remarks at Howard University, her alma mater and one of the country’s most prominent historically Black schools, in the same spot where she hoped to give a victory speech.

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Chicago covering the 2024 general election. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates on local, state and national races.

Recent polls say presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck. But what do polls actually tell us and what impact do they have?

The rival positions get at a fundamental distinction between the two candidates on how to guide the world’s largest economy: Harris’ team is arguing that the rule of law creates the certainty that can make markets and workers thrive, while Trump is arguing that tariff increases and tax cuts are the keys for growth.