San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan made it official this morning: He’s running for governor.

“I’m running for governor of California — because we can do better,” he said in 6am posts on X, Facebook and Instagram. “I know we can, because we’re proving it in San Jose.”

Today's planned announcement was reported exclusively on San Jose Inside last night.

Ending weeks of speculation, the 43-year-old Watsonville native said in his announcement:

“We’ve reduced unsheltered homelessness by nearly one third after a decade of growth. We were rated the safest big city in America last year for the first time in over 20 years. We’re the only city to have solved 100% of homicides nearly 4 years running. And we’re taking on affordability with urgency and honesty — unlocking thousands of housing units in the past couple years.”

In his statement, Mahan said, “We need to stand up for our rights, for our freedoms and for our neighbors. We need to use the tools we have at hand to protect our democracy.”

Mahan is staking out a centrist position in a crowded field, as the ninth Democratic candidate – plus two Republicans – who will seek to survive a June primary, a little over four months away.

The former teacher, tech entrepreneur and San Jose City Council member has been critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out this year, and a state Legislature that isn’t meeting the needs of California cities.

“We don’t just need to be against something. We need to be for something — a government that proves it can solve problems for working people again,” he said in his campaign announcement.

Mahan has strong support from Silicon Valley, where he led a couple of successful startups, and faces an uphill climb to build statewide recognition in a few short months.

He joins as a late-comer in a wide-open race that includes: former Congress member Katie Porter; former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; East Bay Congress member Eric Swallwell; former Biden cabinet member and California Secretary of State Xavier Becerra; entrepreneur Tom Steyer; state Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond; former state controller Betty Yee; former state Assembly leader Ian Calderon; plus two Republicans, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Green Party candidate Butch Ware.

“I’m running to bring focus back to government,” Mahan said. “To give cities the tools they need to succeed. To show that the best resistance to division is results. And to prove that California can work again — for everyone. That’s why I’m running.”

Mahan also unveiled a campaign website, in which he pledged “to make California work for all of us by holding our leaders accountable, putting toxic politics aside, and making sure government at every level is working smarter to solve our problems and uphold our values.”

In the website, he said he is running “to unite Californians around the basic common-sense ideas that build a better future for every family.”

The website, referring to the San Jose mayor in the third person, said “his overriding value is to put pragmatic and successful policies first so we can build a better California together.”

Mahan’s pre-dawn announcement generated headlines in regional and national media and social media. Newsom’s high-profile social media trolling of President Donald Trump and an anticipated 2028 presidential campaign has put the spotlight on California politics.

Nationally, Mahan’s campaign is being defined as anti-Newsom, while other candidates, like Newsom, are focusing their criticism of the president.

“A Democratic Critic of Newsom Will Run to Succeed Him” was The New York Times headline. The Los Angeles Times called Mahan “a Newsom critic and political moderate” in its headline.

Mahan today embraced that label. “The current field, it feels like many people are more interested in running either against Trump or in his image,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I’m running for the future of California, and I believe that we can fight for our values on the national stage while being accountable for fixing our problems here at home.”

The New York Times put it this way: “In a midterm election that will surely be focused on Mr. Trump, who is deeply unpopular in the state, Mr. Mahan stands out as a California Democrat who has avoided attacking the president.”

“I believe that the best resistance is demonstrating results,” Mahan told the New York Times, “and showing that a state with our values and our diversity can produce greater economic opportunity and a higher quality of life for all of our residents.”

Mahan also made it clear that he would not hesitate to file lawsuits against the Trump administration when necessary to protect California’s interests.

The mayor’s new campaign website listed key campaign themes: affordability, homelessness, government accountability and education.

“We can make California affordable again, starting with building the housing we can afford by cutting fees and regulations, using surplus government land, and dramatically lowering the cost of construction,” he said on the website.

“Homelessness should not be a choice we accept. It should be a tragedy we end,” he said.“The era of mass treatment needs to start now. And with mass treatment we will make our state safer, cleaner, and kinder.”

Congressman Sam Liccardo, whose 16th Congressional District campaign opened the opportunity for Mahan’s mayoral bid, today endorsed Mahan as “a leader who has governed under pressure, balanced a budget, and delivered results.”

Liccardo helped raise money for Mahan’s first campaign.

“Our state faces three defining challenges: restoring affordability, standing up to Trump’s assault on California, and continuing to drive jobs and opportunity as the world’s fourth-largest economy,” Liccardo said in a statement released this morning.

“Mayor Mahan has battled through ground zero of the affordability crisis, where the housing shortage demands urgency and creativity. He’s overcome political targeting from Washington, and he leads a city in the heart of our innovation economy.”