What's next for Kamala Harris? 

After falling backward into the presidential nomination, Kamala Harris, will soon find herself without a job. She ran a campaign of hope and optimism that was largely rejected; the final electoral score was Donald Trump 312, Harris 226.  

It wasn’t a nailbiter — it was a blowout. Trump made gains with Hispanic and Black Americans, and in rural and urban areas. What’s worse, Harris’s support from women (53 percent) was down compared to President Biden’s (57 percent) in 2020.  

After such a humiliating defeat, what will Harris do next?  

Harris could try to run for president again. She could escape to private life and relax on a beach. She could join the nonprofit world and take the fight for civil rights there. She could join the mainstream media or start her own podcast. Or she could do as John Quincy Adams did: go to Congress and represent the unrepresented.   

Kamala Harris grew up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood. Her parents, who met at UC Berkley, were involved in the civil rights movement, taking Harris to protest while she was still in her stroller. This had a profound effect on her. She would reflect in her memoir that she saw “justice from the outside” — and ultimately, she wanted inside power.  

Harris worked her way up through law school, eventually becoming California's attorney general, a senator and a vice president. She achieved the type of power she wrote about; she was at the top of the ticket for the establishment. “When activists came marching and banging on doors,” Harris said, she “wanted to be on the other side to let them in.”  

But now that power is gone. 

There was a moment that nearly propelled her to the presidency, during a Democratic debate in 2020, when Harris challenged Joe Biden’s past stance on bussing. "There was a little girl in California,” Harris recalled, who “was bused to school every day” as part of the “second class to integrate her public schools.” With a quiver in her voice, she revealed, “That little girl was me.” 

Harris was passionate because she understood that the opportunity for better education was vital to her standing on that stage. She wanted to have power so she could help more little girls like her.  

Harris is only 60. She has a long life ahead of her. She doesn’t have to stop fighting for civil rights because she lost the presidency.  

John Quincy Adams was defeated by Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828. Adams was a passionate defender of civil rights and equal representation. Instead of returning to private life or trying to avenge his defeat, Adams decided to serve in Congress and was elected a representative from Massachusetts in 1830.  

While in Congress, Adams stood up for the American founding principle of the right of representation. He argued against the “gag rule” (a rule that prohibited discussions of slavery in the House of Representatives). He made repeated petitions for enslaved persons, arguing they had a right to be represented. In 1841, he defended a group of Africans who were captured and illegally transported aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. He argued in front of the Supreme Court and secured their freedom.  

Adams accomplished more for civil rights and equal representation in the House of Representatives than he ever did as president. He chose substantive reform over symbolic power. History often remembers him as the man upon whom Andrew Jackson took revenge, but, in reality, he was a dutiful servant standing up for the unrepresented and was united with Jackson during the Nullification Crisis of 1832. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and strengthened voting rights, finally expanding the right of representation that John Quincy Adams had fought for. However, since then, the population has nearly doubled, from 191 million to over 330 million, while representation has remained the same, at 435. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed equal representation in principle, the dramatic rise in population has diluted this representation over time. Each representative in 1964 represented about 439,000 people; now, each represents about 756,000 people.

Harris could go to Congress and write a new apportionment bill that ensures every American, regardless of background, has a closer connection to their government and adequate representation. She could also build a bipartisan coalition to stand united should any constitutional crisis come up between now and the next presidential election.  

The life of a congressional representative isn’t as glamorous as one might think. It’s a thankless job, and history often relegates members to obscurity. While many in recent years have leveraged their positions of power for profit, historically, it’s not a job for the rich and powerful. It's a job for dutiful servants like John Quincy Adams, who put representation over personal ambition. It’s a job for those to stand up for those unrepresented and stand against those trying to tear us apart.  

What Harris does next will likely determine how history will remember her.  

Jeff Mayhugh is the founding editor of Politics and Parenting and vice president at No Cap Fund.