Takeaways from The Bee’s endorsement interview with CA governor candidate Matt Mahan

The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial Board interviewed all the major candidates running for governor to determine who would get the board’s endorsement. Each of the candidates vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom for the state’s top office shared why their vision for California is the one that should get them elected.

Here is what gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan had to say.

The Bee is also publishing videos and key points from the board’s interviews with six other candidates: Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond and Antonio Villaraigosa.

Why run?

Mahan, now mayor of San Jose, says he’s running because of how much is at stake for California families, he says. His candidacy is rooted in his upbringing in Watsonville, California, in a working-class community, where he saw “how powerful public services can be when they work and what it means when they’re not there,” he says. He says his run for governor is “not a campaign … (but) a cause, a movement, to change the way government works to make it more responsive to people.”

He is worried about a state that can “increase spending by 75% and not improve anything that matters to people in the real world,” he says.

What’s his platform?

Mahan says he is centering his platform on transparency and measurable outcomes. He says California is “mired in a system that is not sufficiently accountable.” Based on his experience governing San Jose, he says the city achieved significant improvements, such as reduced crime and homelessness, by publicly sharing city goals and outcomes on the city of San Jose’s website. The city has had to rethink programs that weren’t delivering and change its policies and regulations. “We didn’t raise taxes to do it, but we changed how we spent money significantly and had some big fights with organized interests that didn’t want to change how we spend funding,” he says. On homelessness, Mahan says he will coordinate with every city and county and proposes a comprehensive fair share framework that would hold jurisdictions accountable for shelter, interim housing and treatment capacity. He compares the framework to the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) targets, citing how California uses it as a model for (affordable) housing. “We have a very robust system with teeth in it, but we’re not doing the same for shelter interim housing treatment capacity and coordinating cities and counties,” he says. “We need an RHNA-like framework for holding every city and county accountable for doing their share on shelter, treatment and moving people indoors.

He says he supports making California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) “ongoing at a billion dollars a year,” but more accountable, opening competition across cities and counties, pushing a “cost per outcome” basis. “We need to, in general, orient ourselves much more around measurable outcomes, not just timelines for spending money,” he says. When asked about how he will ensure the state remains a leader in AI innovation while promoting equitable economic growth across all communities, Mahan says: “I am interested in technological trends … they have a huge impact … part of this is just where we are in the heart of Silicon Valley.” He acknowledges how AI can promote misinformation and highly addictive experiences and threaten jobs. “There’s a lot of fear out there, and people are right to have concerns. This is a very powerful tool. … There’s a lot of great that can come from it,” he says. However, he says: “Our job in the public sector is to anticipate and leverage the strength and encourage that while buffering people from the potential costs without driving that innovation somewhere else.”

What he says sets him apart from the rest of the pack?

Mahan says he is aiming to prove Democratic values work in practice and can improve people’s lives. “When I jumped into this race, I’ve heard from a lot of people I’ve talked to around the state, that what was on offer was essentially, ‘More MAGA versus more of the same.’” He says state lawmakers in Sacramento suffer from being beholden to special interests, which can ground reforms to a halt. “We need to demand Sacramento do better before we ask people to pay,” he says. In turn, Mahan says his candidacy is an antidote to the populism on the right that is now matched by populism on the left.

California’s primary election is on Tuesday, June 2. Be sure to check out The Bee’s Voter Guide for key information and the Editorial Board’s other endorsements before the big day.