From left: Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee particicapte gubernatorial candidate debate on Tuesday in San Francisco. 

Ask any political professional who they think will win California’s curiously low-key yet crowded governor’s race, and you’ll likely get the same response: “Dunno.” 

To date, the race has been defined more by the heavy hitters who might have cleared the field of also-rans but ended up deciding not to run — former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla and Attorney General Rob Bonta — than the eight current Democratic candidates.

Last week, the race got its latest entrant: San Jose’s moderate Democratic mayor, Matt Mahan.

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Mahan is barely known outside of the South Bay, but he brings some interesting credentials to the race: He has an impressive track record on housing and homelessness, he’s young (43), a tech exec and stresses the need for “accountability.” His Glen Powellesque good looks don’t hurt, either.

“He has a lane in a wide-open field to tap voters who want a low-key, moderately progressive governor who is laser-focused on solving California’s problems, rather than bashing Washington on a daily basis,” Sacramento lobbyist and consultant Steve Maviglio told me about Mahan.

 A spokesperson for Rep. Eric Swalwell wasn’t as effusive. “Mahan refuses to say Trump’s name and is the mayor of a city that was just named the most unaffordable in the world.”

Echoing Maviglio’s not-so-thinly-veiled criticism of Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mahan has also said his “primary focus is not going to be on internet trolling.” 

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