Long-shot Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan, currently stuck polling in the low single digits, is centering his campaign on fiscal accountability and directly challenging California’s budget policies to stand out among the crowded field.
With less than two months to go before the June 2 primary election, Mahan’s well-funded campaign is failing to gain traction with voters. There are 10 candidates in the contest, eight Democrats and two Republicans. Currently, the Republicans are ahead in polls, including one commissioned by the state’s Democratic Party. As things stand, if the primary election were tomorrow, the two who would advance would be former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, boxing out Democrats.
Mahan’s lackluster standing puts pressure on him to come up with something new to appeal to voters, even if that means breaking with Democrats.
California political expert Rich Withers told the Washington Examiner that Mahan’s best path forward may just be a “closed eye Hail Mary pass.”
“He’s got nothing to lose,” he said.
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Mahan has floated several ideas that don’t necessarily align with his party, including one that would tie pay raises for elected officials to measurable progress on core state challenges. Another would block any new taxes until Sacramento proves it can better manage existing funds.
Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, has also been framing himself as a pragmatic outsider in a field dominated by higher-profile Democrats by zeroing in on the state’s surging budget, spotlighting a roughly 75% increase in spending over the past six years, from a pared-down $202 billion budget during the pandemic to nearly $349 billion today under outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
Mahan released an eight-page plan that offers a window into how he is trying to break through in the race by leaning into fiscal accountability, distancing himself from the party’s political norms, and arguing that Democrats can govern more efficiently without raising taxes.
“We have fallen into this lazy, reflexive mindset of always going back to voters and telling them that the only solution to every problem is a tax increase or a new bond or a new rule coming down from Sacramento,” Mahan told the Los Angeles Times. “We need to step back and take a really hard look at our existing spending and increase the level of transparency and accountability in government.”
Mahan’s plan also outlines a framework for evaluating and enforcing accountability, borrowing certain ideas from policies adopted in other states. It calls for tightening lobbying rules, ensuring agencies act on audit findings, and modernizing California’s purchasing practices, areas Mahan has criticized as inefficient and overly complex.
Another key element is the creation of a “California Performance Review,” modeled after a Texas initiative from the 1990s. The effort would assess state departments and gather feedback from public employees to identify inefficiencies and reduce unnecessary spending.
Central to the proposal is the idea of linking salary increases for top state officials, including the governor, legislators, and thousands of appointed administrators, to concrete performance metrics, such as progress in lowering homelessness and joblessness. It’s an idea he floated on the local level when the Washington Examiner profiled him in San Jose last year. His pay-for-performance proposal ultimately did not gain approval from the City Council.
Mahan also broke with his party’s long-standing energy policies, calling for immediate action to bring down soaring fuel costs. He has backed a temporary suspension of California’s nation-leading gas tax and posted a video on social media standing in front of a gas pump, claiming costs are “becoming an emergency for working families, and I think we ought to act like it.” California’s gas tax, at 61 cents per gallon, is the highest in the nation.
Veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who has managed four gubernatorial campaigns and played significant roles in three presidential campaigns, told the Washington Examiner he isn’t impressed with Mahan’s proposals.
“To attempt to run for governor as a Democrat by becoming the chief Democratic critic of the Democratic governor you’re running to succeed is bizarre at best,” he said. “There’s another weak spot in his campaign, too. One key to success in campaigns is exercising tight control over your message. In Mahan’s case, he’s essentially franchised out his advertising to his Silicon Valley tech bros, who are putting up the millions to fund the independent expenditure on his behalf. I’ve seen their ads, and they’re uniformly disjoined, flat, and forgettable.”
South said his ads are “nowhere near powerful or compelling enough to propel him from 4% to the top of the pack.”
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Three Democrats — former Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), and billionaire Tom Steyer — along with Republicans Hilton and Bianco, are within 4 percentage points of one another, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California survey. The Democrats at the top have stayed on brand.
Calls to Mahan for comment on his campaign strategy going forward were not immediately returned.
