Matt Mahan

You've had oil and gas.

In the state of California, it is worth noting there are other groups as well from public sector unions to trial lawyers who spend a tremendous amount of money.

Yeah.

Sometimes for things I agree with that I think are generally good for society, sometimes for narrower interests that are not always good for society.

I actually got involved in, the way I ended up in tech was building tools for grassroots organizing, the early petitions like the change.org tools, early fundraisers, GoFundMe, these kinds of early tools.

To try to basically help people organize at a grassroots level and make the system more accountable to the people than to the donors.

I've always been worried about the influence of concentrated money and power in our politics.

So it does worry me.

I do think, though, that the Democratic Party has to also recognize there's a split within the party right now.

And we have also driven away many people who have started companies.

And I'm not just talking about in tech.

I mean, generally speaking, as I go around the state, just set tech aside.

When I go talk to people in agriculture, in Hollywood, in manufacturing, in a wide range of industries,

The regulatory burden in California is a real issue.

And I think we become very dismissive of it as, oh, deregulation is a Republican thing.

That's just because they want more profit.

I don't think that's the case.

I mean, we broke the housing market by over-regulating it in California.

Building more housing, creating room for new people, for future generations, making housing more affordable is actually a very progressive aim.

I totally agree.