San Jose mayor blasts Newsom’s obsession with ‘internet trolling’ over results

He’s photogenic, has great hair, and isn’t afraid of lefty Democrats.

No, we aren’t talking about Gavin Newsom.

In fact, the latest contender in the congested governor’s race doesn’t even like California’s alpha Dem.

And the feeling is mutual, if Newsom’s rabid X account is to be believed.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced his run for governor Thursday, slammed Newsom’s attention-hogging Twitter antics in an interview.

“My primary focus is not going to be on internet trolling,” Mahan told Politico. “The best resistance is delivering results and showing that states and cities with progressive values can deliver safety, a high quality of life and economic opportunity.”

He traded catty tweets with Newsom’s press team earlier this month over funding for a San Jose “tiny home” village for the homeless — one of Mahan’s signature initiatives as mayor.

And the two Democrats clashed over Prop. 36, a popular voter initiative that increased penalties for certain drug and theft crimes. Tough-on-crime Mahan backed the measure, while Newsom has avoided funding the prop, which passed with nearly 70% of votes.

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Mahan is betting that voters are sick of the Newsom show but willing to roll the dice on a low-profile, moderate Dem — even though it risks handing the seat to a Republican for the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Polling shows that two Republicans — Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — are leading or near the top of the pack as an uninspiring field of Democrats claw for votes ahead of the June primary election. On the Democratic side, Rep. Eric Swalwell and former congresswoman Katie Porter lead the pack.

If more Dems don’t drop out in the months to come, the chances of them cannibalizing each other’s votes and turning the governor’s mansion red for the first time since 2011 would go from once unthinkable to a real possibility.

Larry Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San José State University, said that Mahan is wise to distance himself from “all of the candidates who are to the left” with tough-on-crime policies and a focus on fixing homelessness.

“The secret recipe for Mahan is not just the Democrat voters, it’s the 30% of the state who are registered as a no political party,” Gerston said.

“Because the Democrats allow no political party voters to take part in the primary, unlike Republicans, they’re less political, less dogmatic, and they could look at Mahan as a fresh face.”