Backed by Tech Money, a Moderate Democrat From Silicon Valley Mounts a Bid for California Governor

Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, is waging an uphill battle for California governor as the lone Democrat in his telling willing to challenge his own party on homelessness, public safety, and the influence of special interests in Sacramento. Backed by a flood of tech money, he often says Californians “don’t need MAGA, but we also don’t need more of the same.”

After entering the race in late January, Mahan has raised $14 million—more than any other candidate except billionaire self-funder Tom Steyer, whose campaign has spent more than $137 million on advertising. Despite that support, Mahan has remained mired in the single digits in recent polls, overshadowed by better-known Democrats. His low numbers will be reflected by his position on the edge of the stage at Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate hosted by CNN.

“I’m in the process of introducing myself to Californians,” Mahan told CNN. “We have a lot of people to get to know over the next few weeks.”

The son of a teacher and a letter carrier, Mahan grew up in Watsonville and attended Harvard, where he met Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder counseled him to skip law school and go into tech to “change the world.” Mahan joined an early Facebook app, became its CEO, and later co-founded a civic engagement platform. He won a seat on the San Jose City Council in 2020 and became mayor in 2022.

In San Jose, Mahan has pushed for temporary housing, including tiny homes, for the homeless and proposed arresting people for trespassing if they reject three offers of shelter. He backed Proposition 36, a 2024 ballot measure making some drug and theft crimes felonies, over the opposition of the California Democratic Party and Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has also criticized Newsom’s social media team for “belittling those who disagree with them.”

Some of Silicon Valley’s heaviest hitters have lined up behind him, including Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings. An independent expenditure committee supporting Mahan has received $3 million from venture capitalist Michael Moritz and $1 million from former Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel. During a recent debate, moderators pressed Mahan on whether he could regulate AI given those donors. “I am not afraid to regulate Big Tech or any other industry,” he replied.

Mahan said he supports banning cellphones in K-12 schools, requiring parental consent for social media for children under 16, and wants data-center builders to fully cover energy costs. “I’m not interested in trading one special interest for another,” he said. “I’m running against the whole corrupt feedback loop that we have in Sacramento right now.”

US Rep. Ami Bera, who endorsed Mahan after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out, said it was “not a bad thing” that tech executives are backing him because they drive the state’s economy. “A lot of folks are looking at this the same way I am, which is that we can’t just do business as usual,” Bera said.

A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted April 23-27 found just 4% of voters would vote for Mahan. Steyer led Democrats with 15%, and about a quarter of voters were undecided. The nonpartisan June 2 primary will send the top two candidates to the November ballot. Mahan’s supporters insist he is still in the hunt. “He is a fearless underdog,” said Tracy Hernandez of the New California Coalition. “I’m not counting him out.”