San Jose Councilman Matt Mahan Projected As Mayoral Winner

Multiple outlets called the San Jose Mayoral election for San Jose City Councilman Matt Mahan on Wednesday, following new totals showing him clinching the victory with an insurmountable lead over his opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.

Mahan, who is only 40, began his political career while in high school, working for both former state Senator Jim Beall and former Santa Clara Counsel Ann Ravel. After graduating from Harvard University, he joined tech startup Causes, a grassroots and public awareness app. By 2013 he was CEO and President of the company, and in the next year launched another app designed for civil engagement. Now steeped in launching and engaging in political efforts in the new app and social media-infused world, Mahan ran for San Jose City Council in 2020, winning with 58% of the vote.

In 2021, with only about one year of elected experience under his belt, Mahan announced that he would run for Mayor due to current Mayor Sam Liccardo being term-limited out in 2022. Others also soon joined in, including Chavez and fellow Councilmembers Devora Davis and Raul Peralez. Despite having less elected experience, Mahan’s campaign emphasizing safety, homelessness, clean streets and political accountability managed to grab enough voters in the June primary, with Mahan’s 32% of the vote coming in second to Chavez’s 39%, and well above Davis’11% and Peralez’s 9%.

The race soon became a sparring session for both candidates. The largest issues of housing, homelessness and public safety, led to a particularly combative several months, with each candidate taking and retaking the lead in polls. Final polls showed Mahan holding a tiny lead, and initial results on election day had Mahan up by 5,000 votes.

Thank you! We finished last night with a narrow lead and we are cautiously optimistic. We are deeply grateful to our thousands of committed volunteers and to everyone who voted. We were outspent by nearly $2 million, but we were never outworked. pic.twitter.com/y5jLO57Fts

— Matt Mahan for Mayor (@MattMahanSJ) November 9, 2022

Mahan stayed around 5,000 votes ahead for nearly a week, even with new results coming in. But new results from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on Tuesday showed that Mahan had widened his lead to 6,351 votes. With Mahan now at 123,436 votes, or 51.3%, and Chavez now at 117,085, or 48.7%, and only 27,000 ballots remaining, multiple outlets began calling the race for Mahan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, despite the now insurmountable tally, neither candidate gave further announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday. On Monday, both campaigns had acknowledged the closeness of the race, hinting that neither candidate wanted to give a victory speech when a vote differential  so close to recount territory was still present.

“Our democratic process is inspiring,” said Mahan in a Monday statement. “Over 250,000 San Jose citizens thought seriously about what direction they wanted for our city before they cast their ballots. While we are hopeful that the majority of voters have chosen common sense and change, however they voted, I am deeply grateful to every person who cast their ballot.”

But now with an ensured win for Mahan, political insiders said on Wednesday that Mahan will have to contend with numerous new challenges in the coming fours years.

“Both candidates are playing it cautious still, but it’s pretty obvious that Mahan won,” explained San Jose pollster Emily Delahunt to the Globe on Wednesday. “And, for many here, he is really going to have to keep his promises. He said he wanted to put in a dashboard that keeps track of political accountability, like where they are on crime, and that is a huge thing to do. As is ending automatic raises for many public employees if they aren’t showing progress, which he also pledged. You know, he wants a fully-staffed police force, homeless assistance requirements, greater homeless assistance, lowering housing costs, and a lot more. It’s a lot of promises and the usage of buzzwords like “cost-effective”. Plus he has a tech background, which most politicians in the Valley don’t really have, so you can reason that he’ll swoop in there for jobs and such too.

“It’s a lot. Now it looks like he won, so he’ll have to deliver, and already, for a lot of residents, it’s looking like an uphill battle. But we’ll see. Four years as Mayor, as we are all aware, can really change a person and what they had set out to do.”

Final votes in the County are expected to be counted in the coming days.