San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat, is running for governor, but he is not exactly a household name outside of the South Bay.

With little more than two months until California’s June 2 primary, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has his work cut out for him if he wants his name on the November ballot in the governor’s race. 

In his first statewide run, Mahan, a moderate Democrat, is not exactly a household name outside of the South Bay, and waiting until late January to join the already crowded Democratic field didn’t help. 

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Appearances on “The Daily Show,” podcasts and local television outlets have introduced his JFK charm and self-deprecating sense of humor to a wider audience.

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“I just didn’t think there were enough people running for governor,” he told “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart with a boyish smile when asked about his decision to run. Still, he is polling in the low single digits in most surveys. 

“I don’t think that endorsements or the endorsements from the various groups in Sacramento is my path to being governor,” the 43-year-old mayor told me when we met up last week at a cafe in the state Capitol. Trim, wearing a blue suit with a navy tie, he looks a bit like a former soccer player turned coach. “I’m running a campaign focused on going direct to the people.”

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Mahan grew up middle-class in Watsonville, the agricultural Central Coast town that grows America’s strawberries. His mother was a teacher, and his father delivered the mail. Before leading a tech firm, Mahan taught middle school and, before that, he attended Harvard, where he was elected student body president. 

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“I’m running for people like the family I grew up in down in Watsonville, who just desperately need government to work again if they’re going to get ahead,” he said, nursing a glass of water, adding, “I’m trying to deliver a common-sense reform message to Californians who know that we can do better. And that the answer to every problem isn’t always more spending. It’s more accountability.”

That idea — that California’s elected officials should be judged on the results they deliver — comes up multiple times during our hour together. Accountability, of course, is not exactly a new campaign platform in American politics, and as income inequality continues to grow, more voters have warmed to the idea of forcing the ultra-wealthy to bridge the gap between what politicians promise and can actually deliver. 

According to a Chronicle analysis, Mahan is the preferred candidate of the state’s billionaire class. So, how does he think that plays with those who are less fortunate?

“As the mayor of the capital of Silicon Valley,” he responds, “they have seen what accountable leadership looks like, and they, like many other Californians, want a government that is more responsive, more efficient.”

So what about the very rich? Shouldn’t they be held accountable, too? 

“I think billionaires need to be held accountable for paying their fair share, and there are a number of things that I will do … as governor and advocate for, to level the playing field,” Mahan said. 

One of the things Mahan won’t do, however, is advocate on behalf of passing a one-time excise tax on billionaires to pay for health care and education. 

“This isn’t going to work. You’ve had 12 European countries try it. Nine have rolled it back,” he said, adding, “Here’s the dirty secret. It isn’t the billionaires who are going to pay this. They’re going to leave and find tax shelter.” Instead, he believes, “It’s going to be the middle class of California (who will pay).”

So steadfast is Mahan’s view that California’s political class needs an accountability reality check that he’s proposed a plan to index pay for state legislators, tying it to performance goals. 

“We have to hold Sacramento accountable for spending better and doing better before we ask you to pay more,” he said, and I can’t help but glance around the cafe to see if any lawmakers are in earshot.

Bypassing Sacramento’s power players, or threatening them with a possible pay cut, will pose a challenge to Mahan’s viability in the governor’s race. 

Many of Sacramento’s insiders seem to have already settled on Rep Eric Swalwell, who leads the Democratic field in recent polls. He’s getting political advice from Bearstar Strategies’ Ace Smith, for instance, who had been former Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign swami. Swalwell is also getting behind-the-scenes help from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, along with an endorsement by the powerful Service Employees International Union. It’s hard to see how Mahan will manage to leapfrog Swalwell onto the general election ballot — to say nothing of Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, both of whom Mahan trails. 

Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.

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Can Mahan accomplish this feat in the time that remains in the race? Perhaps. Returning to his first election victory, he finds some parallels. 

“Same way I run for governor,” he tells me about becoming student body president. “Go out and shake hands.”

Jack Ohman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist who also writes at https://substack.com/@jackohman

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