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

@cstross

I look at the likes of Kat Abugazaleh (Illinois) and Katie Porter (California), and they seem to be quite strong counterexamples contradicting that claim. Straw men, being funded by the rich, they definitely are not.

@jbayes

#USPolitics #KatAbugazaleh #KatiePorter