SACRAMENTO — Former Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet discussed her 2024 election loss to Donald Trump with her former running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as she eyes a run for governor of California in 2026.

Walz told California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a new podcast interview that he had not yet met for a detailed conversation with the former vice president after they lost to Donald Trump and JD Vance in November.

“I spoke to the vice president last week, we talked a little bit about this ... but we haven’t done like a formal debrief,” Walz said during the fourth episode of Newsom’s “This Is Gavin Newsom” podcast that published Tuesday.

The podcast, which Newsom launched late last month, has generated national attention but also earned him backlash from both Republicans and Democrats who view it as a calculated attempt to recalibrate his image for a national audience as he contemplates a run for higher office.

Aides from both sides of the Harris-Walz campaign disputed the Minnesota governor’s remarks and said the two had analyzed voter data together and spoken as recently as Monday.

Harris moved back to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., earlier this year, where she was spotted visiting sites devastated by January’s wildfires. She will decide whether to jump into the gubernatorial race by the end of the summer, a Harris aide said Tuesday.

Other candidates who have declared their intent to run for California’s top office have said they will step aside if Harris, who is still popular among Democratic voters, enters the race. That includes former Rep. Katie Porter and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, both allies of the former state attorney general and U.S. senator.

California law bars Newsom, who is serving his second term, from running again in 2026.

Democrats nationwide are divided on how to move forward and recapture voters in the 2026 midterms as they face historically low polling numbers.

Supporters have called for them to take a more combative approach to Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who have laid off thousands of federal employees and made drastic cuts to federal agencies.

Newsom, who is considering a 2028 presidential run, has taken a more moderate approach by saying he agrees with Republicans on some culture war issues.

He said recently on his podcast that he objected to calling Hispanic people “Latinx” and that it’s “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to compete with cisgender competitors.

In Sacramento, he is under fire as the state faces a $6.2 billion shortfall for Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for low-income residents.