South Bay labor icon Cindy Chavez will not run for San Jose’s top political seat next year, removing a major obstacle to the re-election bid of Mayor Matt Mahan.
“San Jose has wrapped her arms around me and I have done my best to do the same,” Chavez wrote in an email to supporters on Thursday evening. “While I have decided not to run for mayor of San Jose, I will continue to help move our city forward and help tackle the critical issues impacting our residents and community.”
Chavez, 59, a fixture of Silicon Valley politics for decades and current Santa Clara County supervisor for District 2, ran against Mahan in last year’s election. His win was considered by many to be a major upset in a race that pitted a longtime elected official against a relative newcomer.
It was also a nail-biter, with Mahan winning by just a couple of percentage points after a campaign that was marked by fierce ideological differences over how to solve some of the city and region’s most vexing issues, including homelessness and housing affordability. The campaign also brought record amounts of money into both candidates’ coffers.
The announcement by Chavez on Thursday leaves Mahan, a moderate who was supported by the city’s business bloc during last year’s campaign, without a clear opponent going into next year’s March 5 primary. The deadline for candidates to apply is Dec. 8, according to the city clerk’s office. In addition to the mayor’s race, five district seats are up for grabs, and a total of 16 candidates have already filed. In 2022, a measure was passed by San Jose voters, moving mayoral elections to land on presidential election cycles starting in 2024, allowing Mahan to be eligible for two full four-year terms on top of the shorter two-year term.
Chavez, who will term out of her county seat next year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In April, Chavez said she was in the running for a top administrative position in San Diego County, though it was unclear Friday whether she was still being considered for the role.
Jean Cohen, who leads the South Bay Labor Council, said Chavez has been a “brilliant” and “impactful” leader for the region.
“Her leadership has changed Santa Clara County permanently,” Cohen said in an interview. “She’s part of a movement of business, labor and community leaders who’ve always believed San Jose can do better. I’m confident that she is going to continue to have an impact locally and regionally.”
Cohen declined to comment on other labor leaders who may step up to challenge Mahan. Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, a rising star in the region’s labor bloc and a Chavez ally, also declined to comment on whether she might run.
Terry Christensen, a political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University, said he is not surprised by Chavez’s announcement. Any Mahan challenger would have had to start fundraising in August.
“It would’ve been a really tough race, and a lot of money to raise in a short period of time,” said Christensen, adding that he doesn’t expect a serious challenger to emerge against the mayor.
When asked about how Chavez’s announcement will affect the mayor’s race, Mahan said he was “just very focused on getting San Jose back to basics and making us the safest big city in the country again, treating homelessness like the emergency that it is, cleaning up our streets and attracting greater investment in jobs and housing.
“And I’m confident that if we focus, embrace pragmatic solutions and increase our level of accountability at City Hall, we’re going to move the needle on these challenges, and that will speak for itself.”
A champion of progressive politics since the late 1990s, Chavez served first as a San Jose councilmember for many years before becoming a Santa Clara Supervisor in 2013. Her first bid for San Jose mayor was in 2006 when she lost to Councilmember Chuck Reed in a November runoff. She has also served in leadership roles at the South Bay Labor Council and the labor think tank Working Partnerships USA. During her political tenure, Chavez has been an advocate for women’s rights issues and affordable housing initiatives, helping push through a $950 million bond for affordable housing in 2016.