San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan enters crowded race for California governor

SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat and mayor of Silicon Valley’s largest city, will enter the crowded race for California governor, accusing rival Democrats of fixating on their opposition to President Donald Trump instead of in-state problems.

The San Jose leader, a frequent critic of Gavin Newsom, said he’s running because leaders in Sacramento and Democrats in the field for governor haven’t embraced big solutions to pressing issues, including a more aggressive plan to address homelessness and mandate drug-addiction treatment.

“It's a moment for someone who's a fighter for our values and a fixer of our problems,” Mahan told POLITICO. “I am different from every other candidate in this race.”

Mahan’s late entrance, about four months before the June primary, reflects how deeply unsettled the governor’s race in this heavily Democratic state remains. Despite drawing eight major Democratic candidates, none have emerged as a clear frontrunner.

Those conditions could create an opening for Mahan, who is less known outside of the Bay Area, whose campaign aims to appeal to voters frustrated with the Sacramento and the Democratic Party establishment, especially its pace in addressing homelessness and California’s sky-high housing and energy costs.

Mahan said he would, like his Democratic rivals, fight what he called Trump’s attacks on California and the Constitution in court. But he accused his opponents of focusing too heavily on Trump at the expense of “pragmatic” solutions to the state’s problems.

“We have a lot of candidates following a tired playbook,” Mahan said. “They're either running against Trump or they're running in his image. I'm running for the future of California.”

Mahan is squarely in line with Democratic orthodoxy on issues like abortion, gun safety, climate change and immigration. But he’s known for bucking Sacramento on quality-of-life issues, drawing praise from some Republicans for his tough-on-crime streak. He controversially championed a San Jose policy that allows police to arrest homeless people for trespassing if they refuse three offers of shelter.

Mahan has also publicly chided Newsom, a likely Democratic presidential contender in 2028, over his handling of the state’s problems with drug addiction and homelessness.

Newsom’s camp has bristled at Mahan’s critiques, and some progressive labor unions and activists have painted Mahan, a former tech entrepreneur, as a conservative masquerading as a liberal mayor — a charge Mahan rejects.

The mayor has deep ties in Silicon Valley and is expected to draw support from some tech megadonors. But he is likely to run into fierce resistance from many labor unions, a powerful force in statewide politics in California.

Mahan will now have to quickly raise tens of millions of dollars to compete with his Democratic opponents, several of whom are better known statewide. The field includes former Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.