Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris are both well known and respected California Democrats with designs on higher offices, but are they going to come to some sort of gentleman's agreement about who's going after what first, or will they end up battling it out to become either our next governor or senator? That's the question being floated by the Chron, and though it would seem that Newsom and Harris have been pretty chummy up to now, our lieutenant governor and our attorney general may butt heads when it comes to their political ambitions.

There are rumors that such an agreement may have already been struck, with Newsom readying himself to be the next governor when Jerry Brown terms out in 2018. That would leave Harris open to run for Barbara Boxer's Senate seat, which, rumor has it, Boxer will be vacating rather than run for re-election in 2016.

The danger, I guess, is if Newsom is feeling impatient about rising up in the ranks and he'd rather take the national stage in the Senate than be the governor of California, or if Harris would prefer to be governor and not head off to Washington. (There's also the question of whether Dianne Feinstein will run again in 2018, since she's already 81 years old.)

Per the Chron:

Both Newsom, 47, and Harris, 50, are A-list candidates for high office. No other Democrats are as well known in California, and Republicans, who lag 13 points behind on voter registration, are all but out of the picture for statewide office for the foreseeable future.

But Newsom, the former San Francisco mayor, and Harris, the former San Francisco district attorney, share many of the same supporters and donors — one reason Democrats worry about a demolition derby on their next political lap.

But if they try to aim for the same job, says one insider, it'll be "murder-suicide," given the field of other candidates who'll be vying for statewide office alongside these "political twins."

The LA Times earlier this year suggested both Newsom and Harris might have their sights set on the governorship, but perhaps they've come to an understanding since then? Democratic strategist Garry South has already put in his two cents, though, in favor of Newsom. "I honestly do not see him as a legislator sitting there saying 'aye’ or 'nay’ and making speeches from the back of the Senate."