{"id":248886,"date":"2026-04-02T19:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248886\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:38:08","slug":"san-jose-mayor-matt-mahans-campaign-appears-to-be-cratering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248886\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s campaign appears to be cratering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Mahan\u2019s campaign for California governor is facing internal turmoil<\/a> as weak polling just two months before the primary election has led to the San Jose mayor parting ways with his top political consultant.<\/p>\n

Eric Jaye told Politico the split occurred<\/a> due to a \u201cdifference of opinion about strategy,\u201d declining to elaborate.<\/p>\n

The departure of Mahan\u2019s chief political strategist comes at a critical time, as he holds the backing of major players in big tech<\/a> \u2014 like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale \u2014 but is still polling in the low single digits a month before ballots are mailed.<\/p>\n

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is making a big bet that a change in campaign leadership will lead to a surge in the polls. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Frustrations reportedly boiled over during a call with supporters last week, and Jaye admitted the campaign was not raising enough money while suggesting there was still time.<\/p>\n

A person on the call told Politico: \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of a now or never moment for this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaye, who declined The Post\u2019s request for comment, has played a critical role in shaping Mahan\u2019s campaign and crafting the candidate\u2019s image as a moderate Democrat focused on functional governance.<\/p>\n

Democratic strategist Elizabeth Ashford told The Post that Mahan\u2019s campaign shakeup reflects the high stakes facing candidates whose message fails to break through.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole name of the game is to be nimble, and if something isn\u2019t working, it only makes sense to try to switch things up,\u201d Ashford said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if this is more about Eric or more about Matt, but campaigns rise and fall on the strength of the candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahan has drawn a line between himself and a crowded field of Democratic candidates \u2014 as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom \u2014 by focusing on a \u201cback to basics\u201d agenda to address homelessness, housing, and public safety rather than wading into national political fights with President Trump.<\/p>\n

The top tier of the Democratic side of the race is dominated by Rep. Eric Swalwell, progressive billionaire Tom Steyer, and former congresswoman Katie Porter. All have been polling around 10%.<\/p>\n

Rep. Eric Swalwell has positioned himself at the top of the heap of Democratic candidates. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tom Steyer has plugged tens of millions into his campaign, making it hard for other candidates to break through, ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mahan has been jostling for support with former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, ex-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and former controller Betty Yee.<\/p>\n

The sheer number of Democratic candidates has fractured the vote, creating panic among leaders of the Democratic Party that two Republicans \u2014 former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco \u2014 could emerge as the top two finalists to move on to November\u2019s runoff election. A Republican has not served as California\u2019s governor since 2011, when Arnold Schwarzenegger left office.<\/p>\n

Steve Hilton, a Republican, has surged to the top of the polls as Democrats split up much of the vote. MediaNews Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jon Fleischman, a conservative political commentator, told The Post that Mahan has not done enough to distinguish himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis campaign relies on phrases such as back to basics, common sense, and making government work,\u201d Fleischman said. \u201cThose ideas sound appealing, but they are also broad enough that almost any candidate could use them. They do not define a lane or create contrast.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cModerate and pragmatic Democrats exist, but they are not a cohesive, high-turnout bloc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahan was the last major candidate to join the race in January, and his campaign stormed out of the gate by raising $7 million in seven days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But that money, as well as a Super Bowl ad bought by a committee supporting Mahan\u2019s campaign, has not led to him making a dent in the polls.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s really, really hard to get name recognition in this state, and we are seeing a lot of people struggling to get the name recognition you need to win a statewide campaign,\u201d Ashford said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s speaking a language that is obviously attractive to that crowd \u2014 the Silicon Valley, Bay Area bubble \u2014 but it\u2019s not going to resonate as much in Fresno County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahan issued a statement praising Jaye\u2019s contributions to the campaign, telling Politico he will remain \u201ca trusted advisor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith 62 days till June,\u201d Mahan said, \u201cthe team is moving full steam ahead: meeting with Californians across the state to make sure they know \u2014 there\u2019s a choice besides more MAGA or more of the same failed policies that are making our state unaffordable for far too many working families.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Mahan\u2019s campaign for California governor is facing internal turmoil as weak polling just two months before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,457,943,4421,13,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-248886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-gavin-newsom","12":"tag-governor","13":"tag-matt-mahan","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248886","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=248886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}