San José Mayor Matt Mahan is officially jumping into the race for California governor, rolling out a "Back to Basics" pitch that leans heavily on his City Hall record on homelessness and public safety. He is casting San José as a kind of test kitchen for statewide policy, arguing that what his administration did locally can be scaled up across California, and he is doing it in the middle of an already sprawling, crowded field.
Mahan announced his run Thursday in social media posts and interviews, saying he wants to refocus Sacramento on what he calls the fundamentals of governing. "I'm running to bring focus back to government. To give cities the tools they need to succeed. To show that the best resistance to division is results," he said, according to the AP. He told reporters he believes state leaders should partner with cities to speed housing and shelter instead of spending political energy on national fights, and said his decision to run reverses earlier hints that he was not ready after further talks with local leaders and donors.
On the trail, Mahan is highlighting what he describes as a nearly one-third reduction in San José's unsheltered population and says he wants to "take that statewide," as reported by ABC10. He links those claims to a package of quick-build interim housing, safe-parking programs and streamlined permitting that his office credits with getting more people indoors faster.
City Numbers And Context
Local data backs up at least part of that story, with some important caveats. The latest Point-in-Time count found that San José's unsheltered population has fallen by roughly 23% since 2019, leaving fewer than 4,000 people unsheltered in 2025, and that the city's sheltered rate has climbed toward 40%, according to San Jose Inside. City officials say those gains reflect expanded interim housing, hotel leases and new shelter capacity, while also stressing that the PIT count is only a snapshot of a much larger and ongoing crisis. The same reporting notes that both officials and outside auditors are urging caution about reading too much into a single set of numbers.
What Mahan Is Betting On
Mahan is effectively running on a playbook: speed up housing approvals, build interim shelter quickly and hold local and state leaders to clear, measurable outcomes. The Los Angeles Times reports that he has branded that approach as a "Back to Basics" agenda and even launched a nonprofit policy shop to push those ideas statewide, with his former chief of staff leaving City Hall to help run the effort. Supporters argue that a mix of private donations and aggressive local action produced real shelter capacity in a short time. Critics counter that the formula downplays the long-term work of building deeply affordable housing and expanding services.
Who He'll Face In June
Mahan is not exactly walking into an empty room. He joins a wide field that includes Democrats Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell, Tom Steyer, Antonio Villaraigosa, Tony Thurmond and Betty Yee, along with Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, according to CBS San Francisco. The primary is set for June 2 and will follow California's top-two system, which advances the two highest vote-getters to November regardless of party. That setup is already prompting chatter about whether a fractured Democratic field could open the door for a Republican to slip into the general election.
What's Next
Between now and June, Mahan has to turn a municipal track record into a statewide brand while absorbing attacks from progressives who argue his policies on homelessness are too punitive. The Los Angeles Times notes early interest from Silicon Valley donors and an initial local endorsement from former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo, a signal of establishment backing in his home region.
The entry of a sitting large-city mayor reshapes what was already an unsettled contest and throws a spotlight on a big question: can city-level fixes for homelessness and public safety actually scale to a state as large and varied as California. Reporters and analysts will be watching fundraising numbers, polls and early debates for clues about whether Mahan's moderate, results-first pitch can break through, according to the AP.
