San José Mayor Matt Mahan announced he is running for governor of California on Thursday, portraying himself as a pragmatic Democrat who will prioritize the quality of life of the state’s citizens over progress focused on California politics – including crime, homelessness, housing and affordability.
“I’m jumping into this race because we need a governor who fights for our principles and a fixer for our problems,” said Mahan, one of the Democratic Alliance’s most outspoken critics of Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We can fix some of the biggest problems facing California, and I believe that because we’re really making progress on homelessness, public safety. [and] place to stay in San José.”
Mahan said policies under his watch have reduced crime and the number of homeless residents, helped police solve nearly every urban homicide in the past four years, and should be emulated across the country.
“I want to follow that work by making the state government accountable by working with cities and regions to bring better results,” she said.
Mahan, who is the father of two young children and his wife, Silvia, who works in education, said last year it was not yet the right time for him to run for governorship, even though he is supposed to do this in balanced organizations in politics and business. But he said he changed his mind after failing to find a candidate among the Democratic Alliance’s already crowded field of people he felt he could support – even though he had met with many of them to discuss their plans if elected.
“I’ve never heard the field embrace the kinds of solutions that I don’t think we need, I know we need, as mayor of the largest city in Northern California,” Mahan said. “In today’s environment, it feels like a lot of people are very interested in running against Trump or in his image. I’m running for the future of California, and I believe we can fight for our values on the national stage while being responsible for fixing our problems here at home.”
Mahan, a 43-year-old Harvard graduate and technology entrepreneur from Watsonville, was elected to the San José City Council in 2020 and is running for mayor of the Bay Area city in 2022. In 2024, he was re-elected negatively.
Recently, he has been pushing a short campaign message – “Back to Basics” – and launched a non-profit policy organization with the same name to promote his ideas across the country. His former chief of staff, Jim Reed, recently left his office to lead the program.
Although he’s not known across the state, influential Californians say he’s still someone to take seriously — including progressives who haven’t always seen him, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont).
“Matt Mahan is an honest person who has made great progress in San José’s housing, cost of living, and public safety. He is a terrific Mayor and would be a strong candidate for Governor,” Khanna said in a statement to The Times.
While in office, Mahan has decided on a middle path while avoiding progressive policies that other party leaders have promoted in a state where Democratic voters far outnumber Republicans.
He has supported Newsom, a two-term governor and potential Democratic presidential candidate, on some of the governor’s signature initiatives — including Proposition 1, a plan to step up and in some cases require street people to receive psychiatric treatment. He also joined Newsom in opposing California’s proposed wealth tax on billionaires, saying it would “backfire” by driving business out of the state — including Silicon Valley’s tech sector, where most of his people work.
However, Mahan has never been shy about criticizing Newsom, or – including taking office, President Trump’s behavior as an internet backlash against Trump and other critics of California, including businesses, and not doing more to solve entrenched problems like crime, drug addiction and homelessness.
He broke with Newsom and other Democratic leaders to support Proposition 36, a 2024 ballot measure that increased penalties for theft and crimes involving fentanyl. After the measure was overwhelmingly passed by voters, he accused Newsom of failing to properly fund its use across the country.
Mahan also pushed for a plan in San José to arrest people on the street who repeatedly refused to be offered shelter, which some progressives said was inhumane.
San José, California’s third most populous city after Los Angeles and San Diego, has a growing reputation as a safe metropolis – with a recent report by SmartAsset ranking it as the safest metropolis in the US based on several factors including crime rates, traffic deaths, excess deaths and median income.
Mahan said income inequality is “a real problem” and “a threat to our democracy.” But he said the solution is not a proposal for a 5% tax on state property to raise money for health care. He said the proposal would have the opposite effect and reduce federal tax revenue by driving the wealthy out of government, as similar policies have done in European countries he has implemented, but he did not specify how he would reverse future health care funding cuts that would affect the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
He said he has heard directly from business leaders and others in Silicon Valley who are concerned about the impact of such a tax, which they believe “hits the core of the Silicon Valley economy, which has been an engine of prosperity and economic opportunity for literally millions of people in our state.”
He said California should instead focus on “closing loopholes in the tax code that allow the wealthiest among us to never pay income tax,” and on finding ways to make government more efficient rather than “always going back to the voters and asking them to pay more.”
Mahan said San José has made “measurable progress” on the issues voters raised with him at the grocery store: “crime, the high cost of living, unstoppable homelessness, untreatable addiction.” But the city is limited in what it can do without “state leadership and real accountability at the Sacramento and county level,” she said.
Mahan has gained early support among wealthy venture capitalists and tech industry leaders, who will be able to bankroll a formidable campaign.
In response to a post in early January in which Mahan said the wealth tax would “sink California’s innovation economy,” angel investor Matt Brezina responded, “Is Matt still running for governor? Silicon Valley and California, let’s embrace Matt Mahan and his sensible policies. Matt understands how wealth is created, opportunity is created and society is developed.”
Brezina did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did Newsom.
Some would prefer that Mahan not run.
Santa Clara County Central Committee Chairman Bill James said Mahan “hasn’t communicated much” with his party, appears to be looking to “the more local and conservative population as his base,” and is framing his policy agenda as a “moderate Democrat” with “a little bit of Republican.”
“Matt may run as a Democrat and feel like a Democrat, but his policy positions are stronger than many of the Democrats we work with here in Santa Clara County,” he said.
Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San José), chairman of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, said he would also like Mahan to focus on San José, especially given the “huge year” ahead as the region hosts several major sporting events.
“Our mayor is right that there needs to be more focus on getting the city back to the ‘basics,’ and I don’t know how running for governor and making a big race for the province brings important governance to the city,” said Lee. “Everybody and their mother is running for governor right now, and I think it’s better for him to focus on it here.”
Lee said the Democratic Party is “a very big tent,” but voters should be aware that Mahan has aligned himself with “very MAGA” voices on certain issues, such as Proposition 36.
“He’s ignoring the Democratic Party,” Lee said.
