San José Mayor Matt Mahan is running for California governor

San José Mayor Matt Mahan announced Thursday that he is running for governor of California, presenting himself as a pragmatic Democrat who prioritizes the quality of life of the state’s residents over the principled progressivism that has become entrenched in California politics, including on crime, homelessness, housing and affordability.

“I’m running in this race because we need a governor who both fights for our values ​​and solves our problems,” said Mahan, one of the most outspoken critics of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who left the state’s Democratic Party. “We can solve the biggest problems facing California, and I believe that because we are making real progress on homelessness and public safety.” [and] Housing supply in San José.”

Mahan said that the policies under his supervision decrease in crime and number unhoused residentshelped the police solve all city murders for almost the last four years and needs to be emulated statewide.

“I want to continue this work by holding state government accountable for partnering with cities and counties to achieve better outcomes,” he said.

Mahan, a father of two young children whose wife Silvia works in education, said it was not the right time for him to run for governor last year, despite calls from moderate forces in state politics and business. But he said he changed his mind when he couldn’t find a candidate he thought he could support among the already crowded field of Democrats, although he met with several of them to discuss his plans if elected.

“As the mayor of Northern California’s largest city, I have not heard of the field embracing these types of solutions that I know we do not think we need,” Mahan said. “In the current field, it seems like a lot of people are more interested in running against Trump or against 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 solving 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 then narrowly became mayor of the Bay Area city in 2022. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2024.

More recently, he released a brief campaign message called “Back to Basics” and started a nonprofit policy organization of the same name to promote his ideas statewide. Former chief of staff Jim Reed recently He left his office to run the startup.

Although he was little known statewide, influential Californians in politics said he was still a candidate to be taken seriously; That includes progressives who don’t always agree with him, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont).

“Matt Mahan is an honest person who has made great progress on housing, cost of living and public safety in San Jose. He would be a great Mayor and a terrific candidate for Governor,” Khanna said in a statement to The Times.

While in office, Mahan took a decidedly moderate path while eschewing some of the progressive policies advocated by other party leaders in a state where Democratic voters far outnumber Republicans.

The two-term governor and potential Democratic presidential candidate has supported Newsom on some of the governor’s signature initiatives — including Proposition 1, a plan that would require people on the street to seek mental health treatment in some cases. He joined Newsom in opposing a proposed wealth tax on California billionaires, saying it would “backfire” by driving jobs out of the state, including Silicon Valley’s tech sector, where many of his voters work.

However, Mahan did not hesitate to criticize Newsom; including taking a brash, President Trump-like online tone against Trump and other critics of California, including the business community, and failing to do more to address deep-rooted problems like crime, drug addiction and homelessness.

He broke with Newsom and other Democratic leaders to support Proposition 36, a 2024 ballot measure that increases penalties for theft and crimes involving fentanyl. After the resolution was overwhelmingly approved by voters, he accused Newsom of failing to properly fund its statewide implementation.

Mahan also began a plan in San José to arrest people on the street who repeatedly refused offers of housing, which some progressives described as inhumane.

San José is the third most populous city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego. a growing reputation Because it’s a safe big city — a recent report from SmartAsset ranked it the safest big city in the United States based on a variety of factors, including crime rates, traffic fatalities, overdose deaths, and average income.

Mahan said income inequality is a “very real problem” and “a threat to our democracy.” But he said the solution is not a proposal to tax 5 percent of the assets of billionaires in the state to fund health care. He said the proposal would be counterproductive and reduce state tax revenue by driving wealthy people out of the state, as similar policies have been implemented in European countries that have implemented them, but he did not specify how he would fill looming federal health care funding cuts that would affect the state’s more vulnerable residents.

He said he has heard directly from business leaders and others in Silicon Valley who are concerned about the impact of such a tax, and they believe it “strikes right at the heart of the Silicon Valley economy, which is the 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 taxes on capital gains” and finding ways to make government more efficient rather than “always going back to voters and asking them to pay more.”

Mahan said San José has made “measurable progress” on the issues voters raised against him at the grocery store, including “crime, high cost of living, unsheltered homelessness, untreated addiction.” But he said the city is limited in what it can do without “state leadership and real accountability in Sacramento and at the county level.”

Mahan has already garnered early support among wealthy venture capitalists and tech industry leaders who could fund a tough campaign.

Angel investor Matt Brezina, in response to a post in early January in which Mahan said a wealth tax would “sink California’s innovation economy.” replied“Matt running for governor? Silicon Valley and California, let’s embrace Matt Mahan and his sensible policies. Matt understands how wealth is created, how opportunity is created, and how society is advanced.”

Neither Brezina nor Newsom responded to a request for comment.

Others would prefer Mahan not to run.

Bill James, chairman of the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee, said Mahan “doesn’t interact much” with his group, “considers the more centrist and even more conservative populations in the district to be his base” and frames his policy agenda as that of a “moderate Democrat,” albeit “somewhat Republican.”

“Matt may run as a Democrat and feel like a Democrat, but his policy positions are more conservative than many Democrats we interact with here in Santa Clara County,” she said.

Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San José), who chairs the Legislative Progressive Caucus, said he would prefer Mahan to focus on San José, especially given the “very big year” ahead when the area will host many major sporting events.

“Our mayor is right that the city needs to focus more on ‘back to basics,’ and I don’t know how running for governor and having a major statewide race really provides the basic management needed for a city,” Lee said. “Everyone and their mother is running for governor right now, and I think it’s more appropriate for us to have him focus here.”

Lee said the Democratic Party is a “very big tent” but voters should be aware that Mahan aligns with “the most MAGA conservative” voices on certain issues, such as Proposition 36.

“He opposes the Democratic Party,” Lee said.