Yet another Democratic candidate has declared for the 2026 California Governor’s race, and the tech industry now has their favorite guy in the mix, with three-year San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan throwing his hat in the ring.
We already know that there are too many Democrats running for Governor, hoping to succeed Gavin Newsom when he is term-limited out of office at the end of the year. In fact, there are so many Democrats running that they could end up accidentally handing the seat to a Republican. There are 15 Democrats splitting the vote and generally all polling at well under 10%, while Republican Steve Hilton is at 18%, and nutty MAGA sheriff Chad Bianco is at 14%.
And as of Thursday morning, there are now 16 Democrats splitting the vote in the California Governor's race. KGO reports that 43-year-old San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is now running for governor too, having been Mayor of San Jose for the last three years, and spending two years on San Jose City Council before that.
A couple weeks ago, I came home and my wife, Silvia, said something I almost couldn’t believe.
— Mayor Matt Mahan (@MattMahanSJ) January 29, 2026
She looked at me and she said, “I think our state needs you.” Because she believed I could help our kids. Help San José. And help California.
And if you know anything about Silvia —… pic.twitter.com/GWJzx06AGX
Mahan technically declared in the above Thursday morning tweet (whose length proves he’s one of those people that pays Elon Musk money for a premium X account). But it's been rumored he's jumping in the race for weeks, given his extremely frequent TV appearances lately. The New York Times is buying Mahan’s spin that he's a “A Democratic critic of [Gavin] Newsom,” which is really only true on about two or three issues, but that’s the lane Mahan is choosing for himself.
Mahan is probably tougher on homelessness than Newsom, and unlike Newsom, he supported 2024’s Prop 36 harsher crime sentencing bill. Oh and I guess he’s been a critic of Newsom trolling Trump on social media, if that can be seen as a legitimate policy difference.
Mahan wrote in an op-ed for the SF Standard, “The way we win the fight for a better California is by solving problems in the real world, not by stooping to Donald Trump’s level online.”
And Matt Mahan is definitely the tech industry’s man for the job. He’s billed as a “startup founder” (his initial venture was funded by Ron Conway), he hates the idea of a billionaire tax, and tech bigwigs are probably already counting the bailouts and subsidy dollars they would get under a Matt Mahan administration. Mahan will surely clean up on big-money tech donations.
Mahan is such a dyed-in-the-wool techie that he lived in the same dorm as Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard. And, clearly, this is a person born into privilege — much like Newsom.
The trouble is that no one has heard of Matt Mahan outside of San Jose. Though KTVU notes that it is probably no accident that Mahan announced his candidacy as we’re heading into Super Bowl week, so he can solicit/hoover up campaign donations at the big-money events that are scheduled between now and the February 8 game.
As a reminder, Mahan joins a lengthy list of Democrats running for the office that includes Biden’s HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ex-Congressional rep Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, East Bay Congressmember Eric Swalwell, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former California State Controller Betty Yee.
It’s unclear whether Mahan will participate in Tuesday’s night’s governor race debate which is being held here in San Francisco, a the Bayview Opera House.
Image: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 12: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan speaks on stage during 2025 California Conference For Women at San Jose McEnery Convention Center on February 12, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images for California Conference for Women)
