Matt Mahan
Mayor, San Jose City
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Mayor, San Jose City
Supports Sites Reservoir and the Delta Conveyance Project, backs wastewater recycling and groundwater recharge, and opposes delaying 2045 oil-and-gas phaseout targets.
Pledges to slash housing permitting delays, opposes new wealth and gas taxes, and supports factory-built housing as a job creator.
Calls for clear statewide literacy goals, supports science of reading instruction, and backs bringing back the SAT.
Opposed the municipal unions wage benefits deal.
Supports implementing California Proposition 36, advocates widespread use of treatment courts, and promotes technology like license-plate readers.
Proposes performance-linked raises for elected officials, calls for a California Performance Review, and supports modernized IT and a data hub.
Backs cutting fees and regulations, 30-day permit deadlines, and state housing-law enforcement to speed homebuilding; also promotes factory-built housing, code changes, lawsuit reforms, and university student housing.
Proposes one-stop safety-net service centers, integrated county case-management systems, and funding tied to measurable outcomes.
Supports California backing a secure border, opposes policies incentivizing unlawful immigration, and supports a legal status pathway for undocumented immigrants.
Proposes 10,000+ new treatment beds by 2030, supports integrated one-stop safety-net centers, and opposes a state single-payer healthcare overhaul.
Supports maintaining strong ties with Israel.
Supports Sites Reservoir and Delta Conveyance, backs wastewater recycling and groundwater recharge, and calls for suspending the state gas tax.
Supports implementing California Proposition 36, proposes a law linking raises to performance, and supports enforcing state housing laws.
Supports Prop 36 targeting fentanyl trafficking, proposes 10,000+ new treatment beds by 2030, and calls for unified statewide court standards.
Pledges to veto any tax increase, opposes a one-time billionaire wealth tax, and calls for zero-based budgeting performance dashboards.
Opposed the 2023 city wage and benefits deal.
Supporters praise a record of tackling housing shortages, improving public safety, and reducing homelessness with a pragmatic, data-driven approach. They emphasize a willingness to challenge bureaucracy, cut red tape, and focus on treatment, accountability, and affordability. The backing also suggests confidence in steady leadership that prioritizes workable solutions over political theater.
San Jose’s Mayor is running on his record of addressing homelessness, housing, and crime in our sister city to the south. He’s also interested in truly adopting the phonics reading models that have been successful elsewhere in the country. His YIMBY credentials are decent, and he’s clear on what those issues are as a mayor who has created housing. My only concern about Mahan is that he may not be ready for the scale of insane political resistance that he’ll encounter in Sacramento. The Mayor to Governor upgrade is a big jump, but I think it’s worth taking a shot on him. San Jose has 8,400 employees, the state of CA has 226,000. Yes, it’s a jump, but he’s got the best experience you could ask for, for this job. Nothing in life is risk free, but Mahan is a good bet. He’s one of my three first tier picks.
I first met Matt Mahan as a city councilmember, hosting weekly neighborhood cleanups in our city. Leading California's largest cities tests you in ways few jobs do, and I've seen firsthand that Mayor Mahan has the grit to govern under pressure. Whether it's his work to streamline 'quick-build' housing or his focus on data-driven public safety, Matt isn't interested in the partisan theater that defines our politics; he's interested in what works.
shares our values and has the passion, focus, and urgency, to expand housing Californians can actually afford, lower costs, and deliver real results for everyday families.