Meet California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s likely replacement: Democratic San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who just jumped into the California governor’s race last week.
Mahen is positioning himself as a moderate Democrat and vocal critic of Newsom who could reshape the state’s leadership.
Mahan, 43, announced his candidacy Thursday, becoming the ninth Democrat to enter the contest to replace Newsom, who is term-limited after eight years in office.
The mayor of California’s third-largest city immediately drew support from tech industry leaders who praised his tough-on-crime policies and realistic approach to the homelessness problem plaguing the Democrat-controlled state. Mahan, a popular mayor, will instantly get one of the highest odds to replace Newsom.
“So I’m running to bring focus back to government,” Mahan said in a statement. “To give cities the tools they need to succeed. To show that the best resistance to division is results. That’s how we fix California.”
Mahan’s entrance into the race has completely flipped an chaotic Democratic field that had failed to produce a clear frontrunner just five months before the June 2 primary. He will likely force weaker Democratic candidates to drop out — or risk splitting the vote so much that two Republicans advance to the November general election under California’s top-two primary system.
Mahan, a Harvard graduate and former tech entrepreneur, has deep ties to Silicon Valley and their rich donors. He was classmates with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who Mahan said persuaded him to go into tech instead of law school.
Mahan first won election as a San Jose City Council member in 2020 before defeating a labor-backed candidate to become mayor in 2022. During his tenure, he said his policies have reduced the number of homeless encampments in the city, cut regulations to speed up housing construction, and pushed to strengthen the city’s police force.
The mayor’s campaign for California governor outlines three priorities: housing affordability, addressing homelessness, and public education.
“The No. 1 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,” Mahan said on his campaign website.
On homelessness, Mahan said he plans to do what he’s done in San Jose, by “building safe and decent shelter and then requiring that our homeless neighbors use it when available” – and make homeless people eligible for arrest if they reject three offers of shelter.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News star, initially praised Mahan’s homeless policies during a January tour of one of San Jose’s interim housing communities. But after Mahan’s announcement, Hilton has since criticized the mayor on social media.