An impartial expenditure committee backed by Silicon Valley executives spent $4.8 million on tv advertisements supporting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s gubernatorial bid that may start airing Thursday.
The 2 30-second advertisements spotlight the Democrat’s life story — being raised in a working-class household and dealing on a grounds crew and as a center college trainer — and his accomplishments main the state’s third-largest metropolis.
Mahan’s mother and father “taught him the distinction between good to have and must have,” a narrator says in one of many advertisements. “In order mayor of San Jose, Matt targeted on the fundamentals and delivered outcomes on the issues that matter most. The most secure huge metropolis in America, a pointy drop in road homelessness and 1000’s of properties constructed. As governor, Matt Mahan will concentrate on outcomes Californians must have, like reasonably priced properties, protected neighborhoods and good colleges.”
The advertisements, which is able to air statewide on broadcast and cable TV, had been paid for by an independent-expenditure committee referred to as California Again to Fundamentals Supporting Matt Mahan for Governor 2026.
The group has not but filed any fundraising reviews with the secretary of state’s workplace, however the advertisements’ disclosure says the highest donors are billionaire enterprise capitalist Michael Moritz, luxurious sleepwear firm founder Ashley Merrill and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Seibel.
Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, who thought-about operating for governor or mayor of Los Angeles however in the end determined in opposition to in search of both submit, is concerned within the effort, based on a strategist working for the committee who requested anonymity to talk about it.
The committee legally can not coordinate with Mahan’s marketing campaign, which he launched 4 weeks in the past. Though Mahan lacks the identify recognition of a number of different candidates within the crowded subject operating to switch termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, his fundraising prowess, notably amongst tech trade leaders, is notable. He has raised almost $9.2 million in massive donations since getting into the gubernatorial race.
