Matt Mahan

Well, thanks for having me on.

I think I'm the best candidate to lead the state because I'm the only Democrat in the race who has a track record of challenging the establishment within my own party to make our government deliver for people.

And at a time when we've got an authoritarian president who is trying to take the country in a very dangerous direction, we need Democrats who can govern and make people's lives better.

The way we win in the long run is proving that we can implement policies that make people's neighborhoods safer and cleaner, their schools better, make housing more affordable.

If we're delivering

bad outcomes and people are dissatisfied with our leadership, it becomes very hard to fight for democracy and get people to care about climate change and many of the kind of longer term goals that we have.

I am hearing that frustration and in some cases outright anger, and that's exactly what I'm talking about.

When I ran for mayor of San Jose, which is the third largest city in the state, I was hearing deep frustration with the most basic things.

There's crime in my neighborhood, sprawling tent encampments, our schools are failing, I can't afford the rent.

I mean, the stuff that really keeps people up at night and affects them in their daily lives.

And I realized very quickly when I was out knocking on doors and talking to people that we have to own those shortcomings and offer people change that is pragmatic and responsible.

I believe we are almost continuously in a change election mode because government today is failing to get the basics right.

In San Jose, I focused on things that are very simple but have an outsized impact, speeding up permitting, creating a neighborhood quality of life unit within our police department, building basic dignified interim housing.

And when it's available, requiring people come indoors, partnering with our county to get more people into drug treatment.

by focusing on very basic issues that people see and feel every single day that you sadly see go viral on Nextdoor and everywhere else, we've increased trust in City Hall by 40% in my time as mayor.

And I think that's the playbook.

It'll look different in different cities and different states,

But again, I go back to this core premise that we have to be outcome focused.

We have to look at the outcomes that matter most to voters.

And they're pretty clear.