San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, reeling from Tuesday’s stunning last-minute cancellation of what might have been his last debate with other candidates for California governor, today struck back with a broadside against all of them.
“Let’s stop playing games and start talking about what actually matters,” he said in a direct challenge to his opponents in an X post.
Stung by accusations that his inclusion in the canceled debate had favored him as the darling of Silicon Valley, Mahan wrote, “The last week of this race was ridiculous and the people of California deserve better.”
“Voters deserve better than this,” Mahan said in his X-post today. “They deserve candidates who are willing to show up, answer hard questions and lay out exactly what they’ll do to make their lives more affordable and more secure.”
Complaints of racism forced cancellation
Complaints by four Democrats – Xavier Becerra, Anthony Villaraigosa, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond – who are polling at or below Mahan – forced debate sponsors, the University of Southern California and ABC, to cancel the March 24 statewide debate. The four candidates accused the sponsors of racism in denying two Latino candidates, one Black candidate and one Asian candidate podiums on the debate stage. ABC did not reveal the criteria to qualify for the debate.
Adding to the pressure was a letter signed by nine important political figures in California, including California House Speaker Robert Rivas of Hollister and Monique Limon, the president of the California Senate had demanded that USC “open the March 24 gubernatorial debate to all leading candidates.”
Mahan was to have been on the debate stage with the five frontrunners – Republicans Chris Bianco and Steve Hilton, and Democrats Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter and Tom Steyer.
Tuesday’s turn of events denied Mahan, who had been included in the Tuesday debate lineup, valuable statewide exposure, but also placed him squarely in a different spotlight as an undeserving beneficiary of alleged discrimination.
Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and state attorney general who is polling at a similar level as Mahan, between 3% and 4%, called the USC debate a “ biased forum.”
The moderate, pragmatic San Jose mayor didn’t take the bait, instead saying today that California voters “don’t deserve political theater and process fights dressed up as principle.”
“We don’t need gatekeepers,” he said in his statement. “I’m calling on my fellow candidates to work together to organize our own debates — so we can take our ideas for a better California to every corner of California. Let’s let the voters truly decide.”
“The question is whether everyone else is serious about this race or whether they’re more comfortable campaigning in the chaos than defending their record,” said Mahan. “California is too big, the stakes are too high and the moment is too urgent for this kind of nonsense. Let’s stop playing games and start talking about what actually matters.”
Mahan’s New York City media blitz
Early last week, Mahan’s candidacy – despite a late start and sluggish early poll results – kicked into a higher gear, when he flew cross-country to New York City to appear on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, MS Now’s “11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” and “Morning Joe.”
He returned to the Bay Area to be interviewed on San Francisco’s KQED. His campaign touted his recent endorsement from Majority Democrats, a center-left group that has backed Democrats like Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico. His campaign reported its war chest continued to grow, second only to Steyer among all candidates.
Then on Tuesday, the day of the debate, Mahan unveiled a pledge not to approve any tax increase until the state proves “that we can deliver better outcomes with the dollars we already have.” as part of an ambitious plan to reform California state government, including tying pay raises for elected officials and other top leaders to improvements on key issues.
Despite an undecided bloc of voters that’s as high as 25%, Mahan faces a steep climb to a top-two finish in the June 2 primary. Debate appearances could have boosted his statewide exposure at this critical stage of the campaign.
The most recent independent poll of California gubernatorial candidates, the Emerson College Poll, that was released March 11 was based on interviews conducted in late February through March 3 – after Mahan’s blockbuster Superbowl TV ad but before his campaign began to hit its stride.
There have been no polls released since then, and no indication whether any polls will be released in time to impact Mahan’s eligibility for the next scheduled statewide debate, sponsored by Nexstar Media, on April 22.
Mahan is below 5% debate threshold
for Nextar said it requires, among other things, at least 5% support in a major independent poll to qualify for its debate stage. Mahan has been below that threshold in the early polls. All of ABC’s candidates except Mahan have been invited to this event. As of this writing, only Porter has yet to accept the invitation.
The Emerson College Polling Center told San Jose Inside its next poll will be in late April, after the Nexstar debate. The other major pollster in this campaign, the Citrin Center at University of California/Berkeley and co-sponsor Politico, has not said when its next poll will be released, and the timing is critical to Mahan’s chances to join the Nexstar debate.
All of ABC’s candidates except Mahan have been invited to this event. As of this writing, only Porter has yet to accept the invitation.
The Nexstar debate will be broadcast statewide on April 22 at 7pm, originating from the studios of KRON4 The two major independent PACs supporting Mahan told Political they have raised more than $13.3 million and that tens of millions more could come in, with the election a little over two months away – if Mahan is able to demonstrate new momentum among voters. Mahan’s campaign said its own war chest is approaching $11 million.
A sceptical Politico report last week said “Nothing Mahan has done to date suggests he is finding enough traction in his home state.”
Garry South, a Southern California-based Democratic consultant who managed two successful campaigns for Gray Davis and is a former adviser for Gov. Gavin Newsom has written off the San Jose mayor. He told Political, that Mahan “completely overestimated his standing politically in the state of California as the sitting mayor of San Jose. He’s gone. He might as well drop out.”
‘No new taxes’
Mahan’s ambitious and aggressive “no new taxes” pledge and plans to overhaul big-spending Sacramento are evidence his fight is just beginning, regardless of the shrinking political calendar.
Politico reported that his campaign has made a $2.3 million buy this week to introduce him to voters in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento.
In the government overhaul plan released Tuesday, Mahan said, “California doesn’t have a revenue problem – we have an accountability problem.”
He pledged, “If the Legislature tries to raise taxes before we fix how we spend, Governor Mahan will veto it.”
“Californians shouldn’t have to pay more until the government does better,” he said.
