The Facts

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has jumped into the crowded race, joining a bevy of candidates all looking to distinguish themselves from Governor Newsom.

Mahan is pointing to his record in San Jose, where he doubled homeless shelter capacity through a "quick build" initiative, expanded public safety staffing, and pushed for accountability in government performance. His efforts on homeless shelters cut the number of people sleeping on the street and increased the number in shelters from about 1,500 in 2022 to over 3,000 in 2025. (We must note, though, that, like every other major California city, homelessness continues to rise overall in San Jose due to housing shortages, limited mental health and addiction treatment capacity, and other public policy failures at the state and local level.)

Mahan has also pushed for more public safety resources, increasing San Jose’s police force by over 200 officers since 2022, and advocating for tougher consequences for repeat offenders. He also backed 2024’s Proposition 36, which increased penalties for repeat theft and drug offenses. Proposition 36 passed with 63% of the vote in SF and 68% statewide.

Mahan has also pushed for performance-style accountability in government; a recent KQED report describes his proposal to tie elected officials’ pay raises to measurable results.

The Context

Upon his announcement this past Thursday, Mahan immediately became one of the favorites among the Democratic candidates. While no polls are yet available, prediction markets show him narrowly trailing Eric Swalwell, and ahead of Katie Porter and Tom Steyer.

While the other leading candidates are highly focused on national issues, Mahan's message is more focused on California, and he is perhaps the most critical of Governor Newsom among the leading Democratic candidates.

GrowSF hosted Mahan with our GrowSF Talent network, and his biggest lesson was familiar to any SF reformer: you can’t compassion your way out of dysfunction — you have to build capacity, measure outcomes, and move faster than the problem.

The GrowSF Take

GrowSF will be watching Mahan’s campaign closely. His focus on building capacity and enforcing accountability aligns with our belief that government must deliver results, not just good intentions. If Mahan can translate his San Jose successes to a statewide platform, he could offer a compelling alternative to the status quo in Sacramento. We're also watching other candidates closely, including Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, and Tom Steyer.

We will be sending out the GrowSF questionnaire to all gubernatorial candidates soon, and hope to make an endorsement decision by late spring. Stay tuned!