FILE: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, right, discusses California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s, left, proposal to build 1,200 small homes across the state to reduce homelessness, during the first of a four-day tour of the state in Sacramento Calif., on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for governor appears to be stalling.
An outside committee set up to support Mahan’s campaign, Deliver for Mahan, has filed papers to shut down while another, California Back to Basics, has refunded a $1 million donation from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, as first reported by the Mercury News.
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“It’s never a good sign when a donor wants money back or a committee closes down,” Steven Maviglio, a Sacramento-based political consultant, told San Jose Spotlight.
It also comes as The New York Post obtained a complaint alleging Mahan’s campaign illegally coordinated with California Back to Basics, an outside committee. The Post reported the complaint could warrant penalties of up to $5 million amid signs the campaign is short on cash. The complaint was filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
Representatives for Mahan’s campaign, which has raised $15 million in direct donations this year, didn’t respond to questions about the independent committee shutting down or the ethics complaint.
“It doesn’t seem like the kind of moves folks would make if they expected him to win the runoff,” Santa Clara County Democratic Party Chair Bill James told San Jose Spotlight. “It seems like a recognition that despite significant spending on his behalf, the campaign has not gained any traction.”
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Signs of trouble have been visible since April, after Mahan’s campaign parted ways with a top strategist, Eric Jaye, who had been in the mayor’s political orbit for years. Around the same time, supporters of Mahan pitched a desperate “all or nothing” fundraising effort to raise $35 million in an escrow account by mid-April.
Mahan has struggled to pull away from the lower half of the pack in polling. Last week, the California Democratic Party’s final poll before Election Day showed Mahan in sixth place among all the candidates and in fourth place among Democrats.
The poll found Mahan’s position fell from 7% to 4% from an earlier poll this month, while conservative TV news pundit Steve Hilton led with 22% followed by former California Attorney General and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at 21%. Billionaire Tom Steyer polled at 15%, while Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco polled at 10% and former Congresswoman Katie Porter polled at 7%.
Mahan entered the race in January — notably late compared to other candidates — despite his ambitions for higher office being San Jose’s worst-kept political secret. For more than a year, Mahan sized up Gov. Gavin Newsom in opinion articles and TV news appearances across California over public safety initiatives and legislative posturing toward President Donald Trump.
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His campaign announcement was met with much fanfare in Silicon Valley, with staggering donations coming in almost immediately from a wide range of C-suite executives and wealthy elites across California. The money nabbed Mahan a coveted campaign ad during the Super Bowl, an appearance on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart and most recently an endorsement from musician Grimes, who is a former partner of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk.
Steyer continues to lead in direct fundraising with $197 million, according to campaign finance records. He’s followed by Mahan at $15 million.
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Hilton has raised $11 million. Porter has raised $9 million. Disgraced former Congressman Eric Swalwell — who dropped out of the race over sexual assault allegations — raised $8.7 million. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has raised $7.3 million. Becerra has raised $7.1 million and Bianco has raised $5.8 million.
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The top two candidates in the June 2 primary election will advance to a runoff in November.
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