A new tech-friendly governor?

The California governor’s race has been a crowded field without notable frontrunners.
#Newsom had been a long-time friend of the tech industry, hosting Google’s #Page and #Brin as guests at his wedding
and referring to Salesforce chief executive Marc #Benioff as “family”.
His departure appears to have Silicon Valley fretting.

#Singleton, from the Chamber of Progress, said Newsom had long recognized “how pivotal the technology industry is in California”.

But then, late last month, Matt #Mahan, a moderate Democrat and the mayor of San Jose, announced his candidacy.

Before Mahan got involved in politics in 2020, he had a career in the tech sector.
He was an undergraduate at Harvard with Zuckerberg,
and in 2014 co-founded a startup with funding from #Conway, #Benioff and Napster co-founder Sean #Parker.

Mahan appears to be the savior the tech industry had been searching for.
Since his candidacy announcement just two weeks ago,
⚠️millions have poured into his campaign.

According to public records, he’s received donations from several venture capitalists,
along with Roblox CEO David #Baszucki, Y Combinator CEO Garry #Tan, GitHub co-founder Chris #Wanstrath, Cloudkitchen co-founder Diego #Berdakin, and Ring founder #Siminoff.

Mahan has even courted donors who helped launch companies known for working with the Trump administration,
including Palantir co-founder Joe #Lonsdale and Anduril co-founder Matt #Grimm and his wife Kimberly Grimm, according to public records.

Google’s #Brin has also backed Mahan, maxing out the limit for an individual campaign donation at $78,400.

Several of Mahan’s other tech backers also maxed out their donations.
🔥At this point, Mahan has now raised more than double the two most prominent democrats in the race, ⭐️Eric Swalwell
and ⭐️Katie Porter.

As political races and ballot measure campaigns continue to heat up across California in 2026, tech’s influence is only expected to grow.

“It’s going to be a fun session,” Singleton said. That’s for sure.”

#MattMahan #KatiePorter #EricSwallwell #CAGovernor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/15/california-billionaires-state-elections

#Super #Pacs aplenty❗️

Outcry over taxes is just one of the ways the tech sector is ramping up its influence campaign.
Several Super Pacs have popped up over the past few months and tech is injecting these committees with tens of millions.

McCuan said this strategy is helpful for the ultra-wealthy because it allows them to
stay behind the scenes,
while donating limitless money.

“You could create some amorphous sounding organization like
‘Californians for All That is Good and Right Under the Sun’,” McCuan said.
“And who knows what the hell that is, but that entity becomes the vehicle to which others give money … and it becomes very difficult to unpeel and unfurl what is going on.”

#Meta launched two new Super Pacs last fall, which are focused on dialing back AI regulation and supporting AI-friendly candidates.
The company contributed
$45m to one, the "American Technology Excellence Project", which will operate in several states but hasn’t yet established a committee in California.

The other, "Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across" (Meta) California, is state-specific and has received one
$20m contribution from Meta.

The social media giant has also matched #Google in infusing a separate Super Pac called "California Leads" with a total of $10m.

Ron #Conway, a longtime Democratic tech donor, has also donated $100,000 to this committee,
which says it aims to support favorable candidates in the state but will not just focus on issues affecting the tech industry, according to Politico.

The #crypto industry is getting into Super Pacs too, debuting a group called "Grow California".

The committee opened with $10m from crypto executive Chris #Larsen and evangelist Tim #Draper.
Larsen told the New York Times he plans to give $30m more.
The focus of Grow California is to “rebuild a state capital” and shape the state’s legislature.

“We have a group of people who are not acting in a pragmatic way.
They’re not looking for balance. They’re completely #fucking owned by one side,”
Larsen, who’s the chair of crypto company #Ripple, told Politico.
“So we’re going to work on taking out those people who are not working for the people of California.”

While the tech industry is now pushing its influence at the state level,
San Francisco has already experienced many of these same tactics at the city level.
Backed with Silicon Valley money, several different
501(c)(4) groups formed over the past couple election cycles
to throw support behind preferred mayoral and board of supervisor candidates.

They also bankrolled successful recall campaigns for a progressive district attorney and members of the school board.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/15/california-billionaires-state-elections