Matt Mahan Launches His Mayoral Campaign with a Revolution of Common Sense

Matt Mahan for Mayor of San Jose Matt Mahan San Jose

For Immediate Release

San Jose, CA – Business leader and San Jose City Councilmember Matt Mahan announced today that he is running to become San Jose’s next Mayor to bring about a revolution of common sense and make sure our government is working as hard as we do.

Mahan is a longtime San Jose resident and a new member of San Jose’s city council who comes from the business world, where he founded and grew companies dedicated to empowering voters and holding government accountable. Deeply involved in the community, Matt has also served on a number of neighborhood and civic boards in and around San Jose.

In 2020, he ran a successful campaign for city council in District 10, and for the past year has represented over 100,000 constituents in the Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, and Vista Park neighborhoods. Matt Mahan first ran for office pledging to give our city government “a wakeup call.” As soon as he started working at City Hall, Matt saw just how bad the problem really is.

“All too often, government works for government — with little accountability, built in inefficiencies and almost no incentive to do better. My campaign is about requiring accountability, efficiency and innovation. It is about demanding a revolution of common sense because we all deserve better,” Mahan said.

Matt’s revolution of common sense in government starts with four key policy principles:

  • We believe government should focus first on the basics, such as cleaning up our city, paving our roads, and keeping our neighborhoods safe.
  • We believe that homeless residents should have access to basic and safe shelter, but that they have a responsibility to use it when provided. Those suffering from severe mental illness and addiction belong in treatment centers, not in our streets and parks.
  • We believe we need to continue improving policing practices, not defund the police.
  • We believe new housing should go near transit downtown and in urban villages, not wherever developers want. That way we can have affordable housing without transit gridlock, displacement and environmental damage

Mahan knows that San Jose families are working harder than ever – yet so many are struggling to pay bills as the cost of just about everything keeps going up and up. In order to make life better for San Joseans, Mahan will make sure our city government is working just as hard as we are.

Matt Mahan graduated from Harvard University, and taught middle school students in San Jose before entering the business world and founding his own start-up.

Share this post:

Join our Revolution for Common Sense

Name(Required)

You Did It!

you Did It!

While this has been the longest period of vote counting in recent memory, we need to remember that we have also just seen the highest number of votes cast for mayor in our city’s history. The count as of today now shows our campaign for common sense will win a majority of the votes. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign. But what unites us as a city is much more powerful than any divisions from a political contest.

I have just spoken with Supervisor Chavez and appreciate her most gracious concession in the true spirit of our robust democracy. I congratulate Supervisor Chavez on her strong campaign and I hope to work with her closely in the years ahead to address the challenges facing San Jose. We all want our city to be safe, to prosper, and our mission is to work together for common-sense solutions to end street homelessness, fight crime more effectively, make our city more affordable, clean up San Jose and hold ourselves as elected officials accountable for results.

I want to send my gratitude to every single voter who cast a ballot for our campaign or for Supervisor Chavez. Your vote was thoughtfully cast and your voice will be heard. And I want to personally thank our incredible volunteers and the 40,000 San Jose citizens who joined our campaign for common sense. You built one of the most powerful grassroots campaigns that this city has ever seen. It was your work that made this victory for common sense possible. 

Keep In Touch

Name(Required)

Keep In Touch

Name(Required)