Moderate Democrat Matt Mahan is running for governor of California

from Jeanne KuangCalMatters

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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat, is entering the race for California governor, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for the seat that so far has no clear front-runner just months before the June primary.

Mahan made a name for himself in part as a Democratic critic of Gov. Gavin Newsom. As others in his party scramble for ways to fend off the Trump administration, Mahan wrote last summer in op-ed that the governor’s social media trolling, which has delighted many Democrats, goes “beyond accepting the excesses and abuses of the Trump administration and begins to ignore businesses simply for expressing concern about the very real problems of crime, homelessness and overregulation.”

His campaign website shows he will present himself as a pragmatist who will put “toxic politics aside,” avoid new taxes, cut construction red tape and force more homeless people into drug treatment.

“We don’t just have to be against something,” he wrote on social media announcing his campaign. “We have to stand for something – a government that proves it can solve the problems of working people again.”

Mahan worked in technology before running for San Jose City Council in 2020. He won the mayoral race in 2022 and has focused much of his two terms on street homelessness.

He was a particularly zealous supporter of housing homeless people tiny homes as an alternative to traditional shelters because they can be built faster and cheaper. He also got tougher on pushing homeless residents to accept shelters and called on the state to eliminate more encampments. Last June, the City Council adopted Mahan’s plan to arrest people if they refuse multiple offers of shelter.

Mahan was also a vocal supporter in 2024 from proposition 36a state ballot measure backed by police, prosecutors and the GOP to increase penalties for some drug and theft crimes and force some defendants into treatment programs. Newsom opposed the measure, along with much of the Democratic Party; voters passed it overwhelmingly.

Other Democratic candidates for governor include Congressman Eric Swalwell, attorney and former Congresswoman Katie Porter, and billionaire climate investor Tom Steyer. The open field prompted even more to consider running, potentially giving Republicans an advantage in the state’s first two primaries.
Latest pollshave shown Republican candidate Fox News commentator Steve Hilton or conservative Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco anchored, even though Democrats outnumber GOP voters almost two to one.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.