If Matt Mahan didn’t exist, California Democrats would need to invent him.
Mahan, the moderate Democratic mayor of San Jose, has long positioned himself as a foil to the — sometimes progressive, often will-of-the-wisp and increasingly national — politics of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who soon will be termed out of office as he prepares to run for president.
And now Mahan’s announcement Thursday that he will join the crowded, if otherwise uninspiring, field of Democratic candidates for governor injects new excitement into the race.
We know that many Southern Californians don’t know San Jose, even though it is the third-largest city in the state, trailing only Los Angeles and San Diego. While it may not have the pizzazz of the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s the economic hub of the global juggernaut that is Silicon Valley, and a very Californian place indeed: part sprawling suburb, part dense and diverse big city.
But Mahan, 43, a Harvard graduate and tech entrepreneur before he joined the San Jose City Council and then became its mayor, will soon become much better known to all Californians.
Mahan’s commonsense centrist instincts are going to serve him well in his campaign. It’s fascinating to note that when he ran for mayor, none of his fellow City Council colleagues endorsed him (though three former mayors did). Mahan, unlike most of his public employee union-focused colleagues, opposed a 2023 pact with San Jose’s municipal unions that raised employee wages and increased paid parental leave out of appropriate concerns that it would lead to a budget deficit and force the city to cut services. In his mayoral run, he proposed an accountability dashboard to track statistics on crime and homelessness, and pledged to end the automatic raises for politicians and city department heads unless progress is shown.
So far, Mahan is leading with a back-to-basics approach that is sure to to resonate with Californians across the political spectrum.
On his new gubernatorial campaign homepage, Mahan leads with by far the biggest issue for most Californians: “The number one way we can make California an easier place to live is to dramatically reduce the cost of homes and rents — which is within our reach if we work smarter and hold ourselves accountable to results.”
On what he says is his No. 2 issue, homelessness, Mahan is also eminently practical, touting “building safe and decent shelter and then requiring that our homeless neighbors use it when available.”
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His campaign is young. Mahan will have to prove that he can attract donors and perform well on debate stages with more seasoned politicians and with voters in town halls. But, quite clearly, in a state that will likely elect a Democrat as governor, his candidacy is so far compelling.
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