The race to succeed Gavin Newsom just got a jolt of Silicon Valley disruption. Matt Mahan, the 43-year-old Mayor of San Jose and a former tech entrepreneur, has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the 2026 California gubernatorial election. Positioning himself as a "fixer" in a field of ideologues, Mahan is betting that voters are tired of performative politics and hungry for results.

Mahan’s entry shakes up a stagnant Democratic field. He is carving out a lane as a "common sense" centrist, willing to challenge the sacred cows of California’s progressive establishment. His tenure in San Jose has been defined by a focus on public safety and a controversial but results-oriented approach to homelessness—policies he claims have made San Jose the "safest big city in America."

Running Against the "Tired Playbook"

"We have a lot of candidates following a tired playbook," Mahan told reporters. "They’re either running against Trump or in his image. I’m running for the future of California." This is a direct jab at rivals like Katie Porter and Antonio Villaraigosa, whom he views as entrenched in the partisan warfare that has paralyzed Sacramento.

• Crime and Punishment: Mahan was a rare Democrat who backed Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime initiative that increased penalties for drug and theft offenses. He argues that compassion without accountability is chaos.
• The Homelessness Crisis: He points to his success in reducing street homelessness in San Jose as proof of concept, advocating for rapid-construction interim housing over the slow, expensive "housing first" models favored by the state.

The Newsom Factor

Mahan has been a vocal critic of Governor Newsom, attacking his record on the cost of living and his focus on national profile-building. By running as the anti-Newsom Democrat, Mahan hopes to capture the moderate suburban voters who feel left behind by the state’s leftward drift. However, in a deep blue state, this "centrist" label could be his Achilles heel in the primary.

Can a tech mayor with no statewide experience convince 40 million Californians to trust him with the world’s 5th largest economy? Matt Mahan believes the code to fixing California is written in San Jose, and he is ready to scale it up.