He’s from the largest city in Northern California. You know, the one down south from us? Starts with “S.”
Be careful poking fun at San Jose when you’re speaking with Mayor Matt Mahan. The gubernatorial candidate is a fierce defender of his city, one he says has made progress on housing and homelessness, reasons he thinks he should become governor. A pro-business moderate, Mahan has attracted big donations from deep-pocketed techies, with his latest campaign total coming in at $8.5 million, according to a source familiar with the matter. An independent committee has raised millions more and spent $1.4 million for an ad (opens in new tab) during the Super Bowl (opens in new tab).
“My values are very progressive,” Mahan said during an interview this week on our podcast “Pacific Standard Time.” “My means are very pragmatic.” Here are four takeaways from our conversation with the gubernatorial hopeful.
San Jose’s unaffordability could be Mahan’s liability
While San Francisco is known as a pricey city, San Jose is the most expensive urban area in California, a recent report shows.
Mahan said San Jose has been unaffordable for decades, describing the city as a “victim of its own success.” He also pointed out the flip side: The area has provided unparalleled upward mobility, citing a study (opens in new tab) by Harvard economist Raj Chetty.
Mahan said housing reform measures are one way to bring down costs. But it remains to be seen whether he can successfully navigate affordability while his more progressive counterparts across the country, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have used the issue to criticize centrist Democrats.
Fighting Trump isn’t one of his main priorities
Mahan has taken a similar tack to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, arguing that a well-run Democratic city is the best defense against President Donald Trump.
“I think that we have a duty to deliver and demonstrate that our values in California work in practice, that they actually create communities that are safer, more vibrant, more inclusive economically, and that create more opportunity for people,” he said. “That, to me, is the most important thing.”
The message stands in contrast to Mahan’s opponents in the gubernatorial race. During a Feb. 3 debate (opens in new tab), every candidate aside from Republican Steve Hilton expressed fierce criticism of the president. Mahan’s position could be strategic, as he is trying to woo independent and right-leaning voters ahead of the June primary.
Unions could become a thorn in his side
Mahan has had a strained relationship with San Jose’s unions, sparked by his strategies on housing for the homeless and pay increases for city workers. Asked about the teachers strike in San Francisco and what he would do about it as governor, Mahan voiced support for unions while noting that cities need to be fiscally responsible when it comes to salary increases.
“We do have to operate within the realm of reality,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to say, ‘Well, if we only project revenue to go up 3% a year, we can’t give a 4% raise year after year without cutting services.’”
That stance could cost him, as labor unions are expected to launch multimillion-dollar campaigns in support of their chosen candidates.
He’s trying to stay above the fray
While Gov. Gavin Newsom regularly skewers Trump in provocative social media posts, Mahan is hoping that voters are hungry for a politician who’s not lashing out. In August, Mahan wrote an opinion article titled “How about less time breaking the internet and more time fixing California?” in which he argued that Newsom’s social media strategy “doesn’t solve real-world problems.”
During the “PST” interview, Mahan said, “Sometimes our politics gets overly partisan and performative and just becomes contentless attacks and trolling and memes.”