{"id":180199,"date":"2026-02-16T15:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180199\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:14:16","slug":"san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-the-optimistic-candidate-for-california-governor-east-bay-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180199\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants to be the optimistic candidate for California governor \u2013 East Bay Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Mahan<\/a> isn\u2019t really a fan of the \u201cmoderate\u201d label.<\/p>\n

In fact, the San Jose mayor and Democratic candidate for governor<\/a>\u00a0said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what moderate means,\u201d when asked about his reputation during a recent trip to Los Angeles to talk housing and homelessness and tour Skid Row.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Who\u2019s funding Mayor Mahan\u2019s gubernatorial campaign? New filings point to tech titans and billionaires<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s optimism that Mahan said more accurately defines his campaign style, his would-be approach as California\u2019s potential next governor, his persona.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to be a pragmatic problem-solver more than anything,\u201d Mahan said in an interview outside the Midnight Mission, a homeless shelter that provides wraparound services, on Friday afternoon, Feb. 13.<\/p>\n

\"Sergio<\/p>\n

Sergio Mareno, business owner, left, and Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, right, tours skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, right, tours skid row with local business owner Sergio Mareno in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, right, tours skid row with local business owner Sergio Mareno, left, in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with a resident on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, tours skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with business owners on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with business owners on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with a resident on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with a resident on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, talks with a resident on skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, tours skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, tours skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

Sergio Mareno, business owner, left, and Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor and Democratic contender for California governor, right, tours skid row in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should want great things for everyone, but I worry that our state often embraces policies that are idealistic, that sound good, are performative and aren\u2019t working in practice,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why I consider myself a pragmatist more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahan\u2019s late entrance in the California gubernatorial race \u2014 he launched his campaign in late January after meeting with several of the candidates \u2014 was noticeable in what has otherwise been a crowded yet lackluster contest.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because while Mahan, 43, has supported many progressive policies, he has also clashed with his own party and earned a reputation as a critic of the very man he\u2019s vying to replace as the state\u2019s chief executive, Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be willing,\u201d Mahan said, \u201cto embrace good ideas and change what we\u2019re currently doing, irrespective of who had the idea. We can\u2019t have pride of authorship or partisan rigidity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen (policies) aren\u2019t working, we experiment, we try new things,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe don\u2019t get so locked in our partisan silos because of who had the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahan\u2019s age and relative \u201cnewcomer\u201d status in the political world could prove to be advantageous for him in the race for governor, said Matt Lesenyie, an expert in political philosophy who teaches at Cal State Long Beach.<\/p>\n

And a focus on pragmatism \u2014 and even some disagreements with Newsom \u2014 could help him in places like the Central Valley, where some counties boast more registered Republican voters than Democrats. But the approach doesn\u2019t come without some concerns, said Lesenyie.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitically, that could be an advantageous strategy, but against a Republican candidate, it might be hard to tell the difference between them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the next governor is still going to have to build the state party and fight against the federal government,\u201d Lesenyie said. \u201cYou have to wonder if a Gov. Mahan would have spurred the redistricting process in 2025 \u2014 something Californians overwhelmingly backed.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mahan was in L.A. on Friday to talk homelessness and tout his city of San Jose\u2019s approach to the unhoused, a major focus during his tenure as its mayor.<\/p>\n

Mahan is a fan of tiny homes and other approaches to interim housing<\/a>. He supports mandatory drug, alcohol and mental health treatments for conditions \u201cthat lead to repeated arrests and trap people on the streets,\u201d his campaign website described<\/a>. And he has proposed enforcing trespassing laws when shelter is offered and available but someone repeatedly refuses, as he wrote in a blog post<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

On Friday, amid a cacophony of chirps from birds and shouts from people congregating on 6th Street in downtown L.A., Mahan said the Skid Row area represents \u201ca multidecade public policy failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made it too difficult to build housing,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cWe have failed to intervene in cycles of addiction and mental illness, and we are not doing enough statewide to coordinate our state agencies and our cities and counties to expand the shelter and treatment capacity that we need, and then create accountability for coming indoors and taking advantage of those services.\u201d<\/p>\n

In San Jose \u2014 where there has been a 10% drop in the number of people who sleep outside in San Jose since January 2023, when Mahan became mayor, according to KQED<\/a> \u2014 a \u201cback to basics\u201d approach has worked, Mahan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get back to basics, and we build safe, dignified, interim housing and shelter, and then improve the quality of our outreach and enforce our code of conduct in our no-encampment zone out on our streets, we can move people indoors and help them turn their lives around,\u201d Mahan said.<\/p>\n

At this point in the gubernatorial race, less than four months until the primary, what\u2019s clear about Mahan is that he\u2019s passionate about tackling homelessness around the state and he\u2019s willing to, at least at times, buck his own party.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s also still introducing himself to voters, particularly those at opposite ends of the state from San Jose.<\/p>\n

To that end, Mahan said he\u2019s a family guy who enjoys playing board games or embarking on hikes with his wife and two children. He\u2019s big on spending time outdoors, too \u2014 whether that\u2019s hiking or biking or gardening \u2014 and he can make a mean sandwich, his \u201csignature dish\u201d should he ever find himself competing against Bobby Flay in a cooking competition.<\/p>\n

He grew up in Watsonville, a strawberry farming community, and attended a high school with a college prep program. He is a Harvard alumnus who taught middle school English and history in San Jose before entering the tech world, co-founding Brigade, a civic engagement platform, in 2014.<\/p>\n

Mahan is the mayor of one of California\u2019s biggest cities, which he noted is technically a nonpartisan office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have partisan issues, or I don\u2019t have values I\u2019m willing to fight for,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cBut the job of a mayor is to deliver results. I think the state must have a governor who will fight for our values and fix our problems. I want to be a governor who can balance both of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there is that self-described \u201ceternal optimist\u201d characterization, something he credits his father, a former letter carrier, for instilling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we can do better,\u201d Mahan said, although it wasn\u2019t clear if he meant California, the country or the world at large.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at the long arc of history, we have come so far as a country, as humanity,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cWe have big challenges, but we have an even greater capacity to overcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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