San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has increasingly waded into statewide issues in recent years, is reconsidering his political future and could be preparing to enter California\u2019s crowded race for governor \u2014 a contest that so far lacks a clear front-runner.<\/p>\n
None of the declared candidates have offered a \u201cclear and compelling\u201d vision for the state, Mahan, 43, said in a phone interview from Sacramento. California, he said, needs \u201cbold and independent leadership,\u201d particularly on homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see business as usual in Sacramento,\u201d said Mahan, who was at the Capitol advocating for reforms aimed at making housing more affordable. \u201cI don\u2019t see anyone acting like it\u2019s a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments came the same day Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he will not run for governor, instead seeking reelection after suing the Trump administration more than 50 times in the past year.<\/p>\n
Bonta had faced growing pressure from supporters in recent months to enter the race, particularly after former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla declined to run to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Bonta, a former Alameda city council member and state Assembly member, said the calls have \u201csharpened my focus and reminded me how grateful I am to work with so many who care so deeply for this state,\u201d but added, \u201cMy resolve is firm: our fight against corporate greed and vicious attacks from Washington requires a leader with battle-tested experience in the courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahan did not say when he would decide whether to run, noting that he still needs to discuss the possibility with his family. If he enters the race, he would join a field in which a large share of voters remain undecided.<\/p>\n
Sonoma State University political science professor David McCuan said the open-seat contest has drawn a rush of candidates but few have been able to build sustained momentum, with many polling in the single digits.<\/p>\n
McCuan described Mahan as an \u201cunconventional Democrat\u201d and said the mayor\u2019s early political success in San Jose suggests this could be the right moment to make a move.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of politics is about timing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd his timing is right for what could come next in his political career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, McCuan noted that while Mahan is well known in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, he remains far less familiar to voters in Southern California, where much of the state\u2019s electorate lives.<\/p>\n
Mahan burst onto the local political scene in 2020 with his election to the City Council, only to become mayor three years later. A moderate Democrat, he has at times clashed with his own party, emerging as a vocal critic of Newsom\u2019s refusal to fund Proposition 36 \u2014 the tough-on-crime ballot measure approved by voters in 2024 amid a wave of smash-and-grabs and open drug use in the state. Mahan has also faulted the governor\u2019s administration for dismissing allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in state programs, arguing those concerns\u00a0should not be partisan.<\/p>\n
As mayor, Mahan has centered his agenda on what he calls a \u201cBack to Basics\u201d approach: addressing homelessness, cleaning up blighted streets and reducing crime. Late last year, he\u00a0launched a coalition aimed at expanding that model\u00a0statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are taking bold action that is different, that is meant to produce different outcomes,\u201d he said of San Jose\u2019s success in these areas. \u201cI\u2019m not hearing these current candidates think and talk in that way on these big issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahan hosted several of the candidates for governor in San Jose last month for a tour of one of the city\u2019s interim housing sites\u00a0as he pushed for the restoration of key state homelessness funds. None of the Democratic candidates in attendance \u2014 including billionaire investor Tom Steyer, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, former state Controller Betty Yee, state schools chief Tony Thurmond and former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon \u2014 struck Mahan as offering the kind of vision he is seeking.<\/p>\n
Other Democrats in the race include former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell. Republicans running include former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n
A recent\u00a0Emerson College poll found\u00a0that about a third of voters remain undecided. Bianco led with 13% support, followed closely by Swalwell and Hilton at 12% each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has increasingly waded into statewide issues in recent years, is reconsidering his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7,179,181,100,88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-133499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-san-jose","13":"tag-san-jose-headlines","14":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}