San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Makes Surprise Endorsement of Loren Taylor for Oakland Mayor

In a surprise press conference on Thursday, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan endorsed former Oakland City Councilman Loren Taylor over former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, marking the latest event showing his turnaround this month in the Oakland Mayoral special election race.

Speaking from the Laurel neighborhood in Oakland, Mahan pointed out Taylor’s ideas to better track crime in the city, his honesty over Oakland’s budget problems and his position as not being an ‘insider’ in Oakland politics.

“I want a leader who’s going to be honest and direct with the community when he’s campaigning,” said Mahan on Thursday. “Not just the ‘bad news later’ when he’s forced to do something he doesn’t want to do but to say upfront, Here’s how we’re going to get through this. It’s going to be rough, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.’

“I was listening to a candidate forum the other day, where Loren was the one candidate who was willing to be honest about the budget situation. Right? I mean, that’s what we need. We need honest leaders who are going to grapple with the numbers. We have had a lot of denialism around the math in our region over the years, over the trade-offs we face.”

Both Mahan and Taylor also spoke about how a long list of endorsements doesn’t equate to understanding what the average Oaklander goes through, chiding Lee for her recent touting of her number of endorsements.

“Business as usual in politics is not going to work. Just have a long list of endorsers, who don’t actually have the real, everyday experience that Oaklanders have. That is not going to solve things,” added Taylor. “Voters should embrace innovation, whole-heartedly. So many of those folks who are fueling the tech industry live in Oakland. Are we going to ostracize the significant number of Oaklanders who live here and want to raise their children in an environment that’s safe?”

“I am honored to have earned Matt Mahan’s endorsement today,” Taylor posted later on X. “Mayor Matt Mahan understands what it takes to run against the political establishment and win. The money and insiders were not with him—and they’re not with us in this race. He recognizes that real Oaklanders are with us and that’s all that matters. We just walked the Laurel Business District together, met with local business owners, and discussed our shared values so that together we tackle regional issues around public safety, homelessness, economic opportunity, and affordable housing. We are grateful for Mayor Mahan’s support for our campaign as we fight for an Oakland that works for everyone.”

Despite their stance on endorsements, Mahan’s backing is critical for Taylor, as the support of local Mayors is a big indicator of how well cities can work together in the coming years. And for Lee, not gaining Mahan’s support amidst other high profile endorsements, including former Governor and former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, is a bit of a blow.

A new poll released earlier this week by Blueprint Polling/Chism Strategies has found that former Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s large lead over former Oakland City Councilman Loren Taylor in the Oakland Mayoral special election dropped dramatically between mid-February and Mid-March, with Lee now only 4 points ahead of Taylor in the race. According to the poll, Taylor is at 41% as of mid-March, with Lee only at 45%.

Lee’s team, in damage control, stated a few days afterwards that a survey of their own showed that Lee was actually farther ahead with 56% of the vote.

“Over the last week, our field team knocked on more than 4,800 doors across key precincts,” said Lee campaign spokesperson Bilen Mesfin. “We’re seeing support consistently above 56% among high-propensity voters we’ve contacted — and climbing.”

Nonetheless, Taylor continues to gain in momentum mere weeks before the April 15th special election, with him and his endorsers pounding the message of Lee being the establishment into voters.

“The division, if anything, is between the status quo and an establishment that has become complacent and that’s frankly become a club of insiders who look out for one another. They have each other’s backs to protect their power, their privilege, their position,” continued Mahan on Thursday. “They’ve stopped focusing on what we’re here to do, which is to change outcomes for our community. We need to reinvent government. Reinventing government’s not going to be done by folks – no matter how much we respect them, no matter how much we honor, and admire them – folks who have been steeped in it and are part of the establishment, and have been doing it for 30, 40 years.”