Inside the California Governor’s Race: What’s Next for Democrats

Primary night is behind us, and I’m sharing my honest reflections on the June 2 California primary elections — especially the race for California governor.

For the past several months, I worked as an advisor and LGBTQ+ liaison for San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s gubernatorial campaign, traveling across the state and helping build support in Southern California. In this episode, I talk about what it was like campaigning statewide while Matt was still serving as mayor, the pace and scale of running in California, and why the campaign ultimately fell short.

I’ve always believed in working for candidates I genuinely believe in — not just perceived front-runners — and I’m proud of the campaign we ran.

Now, with the primary decided, I’m committed to supporting the Democratic nominee for governor. The stakes are too high. California must remain a progressive, pro-democracy stronghold, especially in this political moment.

If you care about the future of California politics, pragmatic progressive leadership, and keeping our state a bulwark for democracy — this conversation is for you.

Subscribe, follow, and stay engaged. The work continues.

For more information about Matt Mahan go to MahanForCalifornia.com

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You can write to us at: Questions@DukesDownload.com

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Transcript

0:03

Welcome to Duke's Download, my new weekly podcast. I'm Duke Basin here, and each week I'll bring you candid, thought-provoking conversations with incredible guests from the worlds of politics and pop culture. Together we'll explore the stories, ideas, and moments that shape our lives and drive change. I'm so glad you're here. Now let's get started. Hello, everybody. Welcome to this episode of Duke's Download. I'm your host, James Duke Mason. And today I wanted to focus on the fact that we had a lot of big primary elections across the country yesterday, uh June 2nd. Um we had elections in Iowa for U.S. Senate, my friend Zach Walls. Um, we had a lot of elections here in California, um, from the governor's race down to races for Congress, um, you know, state Senate, Lieutenant Governor, uh, the mayor of Los Angeles. We had the primary election. So a lot of big races. Um, but of course, on a personal level, I wanted to focus on the governor's race, um, given that I have worked for the last few months on Matt Mahan's campaign, uh, the mayor of San Jose, uh, who has been running for governor since he uh got into the race back in January. Um, you know, I'm very proud of the race that we ran. And uh I could not be more proud uh to have worked for Matt um in this in this uh historic effort. I mean, he got into the race in late January, um, months, or excuse me, years, years, not months, years after most of his opponents. Uh, and I think considering all that, uh, he ran a race that uh that you know we could be really proud of and that he can be proud of. Um, you know, uh I I first announced I was uh supporting Matt when he first got into the race in January. I think I actually endorsed him on the same day or perhaps the next day after he announced that he was running. Um I had originally hoped uh to work for Rick Caruso, who I worked for when he ran for mayor of LA back in 2022. And I had a lot of hope that Rick was going to run for either for mayor or for governor. And then when Rick announced he wasn't running, and Matt announced he was running, and Rick said he was supporting him, uh, Rick was uh very kind in uh uh hooking me up, so to speak, uh with Matt and with uh his people. And um, you know, initially I just started supporting as a volunteer, and then I brought on to be an advisor and a liaison uh primarily to the LGBTQ community, but also just to Southern California more broadly. And um, I can honestly say that it was one of the most enlightening and fascinating and rewarding um experiences of my life. Um, you know, I was on the campaign for about three months officially, and yet uh it was completely insane. I mean, completely action-packed. You know, we went from um, you know, from Fresno to West Hollywood. You know, I had the honor and privilege of bringing Matt to West Hollywood and showing him my community, taking him to the Abbey. You know, I did a short interview with him, which you can watch in our previous episode. Um, but also going to places like uh San Diego, he went to, Monterey Park uh outside of LA, downtown LA. You know, I mean, I was with him um all over the place. And uh and getting to experience what that's like. You know, California is such a gigantic state. And um, you know, I mean, I'd worked on West Hollywood campaigns, I'd worked on, you know, a mayoral campaign in LA, I'd worked on the Obama and Clinton campaigns and flown to specific different places around the country. But working for a candidate for governor of California is like an experience that uh, you know, I don't think is similar to any other experience. I mean, California is like it's a country, you know, it's the fourth largest economy in the world. It's gigantic geographically and in every other sense as well. Um and so while in some ways, you know, there were moments when it was pretty taxing on me, I can only imagine what it was like for Matt personally. And so I give him a lot of credit. I mean, the mornings, you know, that I, you know, I would have access, you know, to the daily schedule for his daily schedule and seeing what it was like for him, you know, he was a sitting mayor too, don't forget. He was a sitting mayor having to also juggle the responsibilities of being the city of, you know, the mayor of a city of a million people, with also running to be the governor of the largest state in the country. Um, and so, you know, any moment where I would feel uh, you know, not sorry for myself, but you know, be like, oh shit, you know, this is this is not easy, I would look at his schedule and be like, you know, that guy, that guy deserves a lot of credit. And, you know, while obviously uh we fell short in the end and you know we didn't uh we didn't win this election, I think um, you know, for me, there is no feeling more rewarding than being able to work for the candidate, you know, not who necessarily has the best chance of winning. Um, because you know, I could have easily, you know, we go, you know, uh it would have been easy to you know pick in advance. Oh, who's the, you know, who's the candidate who's got the best shot of winning? I mean, you know, Tom Steyer has spent hundreds of millions of dollars, you know, uh, nothing against him because of that, but you know, he spent a lot of money. He was a front runner from the get-go. You know, if my goal had been working for the candidate who I thought had the best chance of winning, um, you know, I might have gone in a different direction. But, you know, there is not the there there the feeling that's way more rewarding than working for the candidate, you know, who you think has the best shot of winning is working for the candidate who you truly believe in, and who you truly believe in your heart of hearts is the only candidate who, you know, can make a real difference and make things better. And that there's no feeling more rewarding than that. Um, you know, I've I've been on both sides of a lot of different races. You know, I've been I worked on winning campaigns, I've worked on unsuccessful campaigns. You know, I lost twice myself when I ran for West Hollywood City Council, so I know what that feels like. Um, but if you really believe in what you're doing, then the result really isn't the the point. I mean, of course, you hope to win, but in the end, you know, I really believe, continue to believe in my heart of hearts that Matt Mahan uh was the only candidate where, you know, that presented a real solution, you know, real solution to all of our challenges. Um, of course, you know, it goes without saying that I will support the Democratic nominee. I mean, there are still some things, you know, California notoriously takes weeks uh for our election results to be uh to be you know sorted and made official. So, you know, I don't know in the end if we're gonna have, you know, two Democrats or if we're gonna have a Republican and a Democrat uh in the general election for governor. Um, but it goes without saying that, of course, I will support the Democratic nominee or one of the Democratic candidates if there are two Democrats. Um, you know, I I think the stakes could not be higher in terms of making sure that California continues to be a bastion for uh democracy and for progressive values in this country, um, especially given who's in the White House. And as I've talked about plenty, you know, on this podcast, uh the authoritarian um administration. You know, we need to make sure that a Democrat is in the governor's mansion. Uh, so I will do anything and everything I can to make sure that that's the case, regardless of who that Democrat is. Um, but you know, I I I have there I have to admit that there's a part of me that is, you know, um a little melancholy about the fact that, you know, there are big challenges that I felt Matt was uniquely suited to address. Homelessness, which is an ongoing, you know, crisis in this state, crime, you know, uh which, you know, in some ways in certain areas, you know, has gone down a little bit. But I still feel like our leaders have not, you know, given that issue the kind of attention that it deserves given the amount of fear, you know, we've seen a lot of residents and citizens here in our in our state. Um, you know, affordability, you know, I think you know, we hear Democrats who keep talking about that issue, but you know, we here in California have an opportunity to prove that progressive uh housing policy can work. We just need someone in office who knows how to actually implement those policies, you know, and I think Matt was uniquely suited to actually do that and to make to solve the affordability crisis and housing crisis. And so, yeah, I'm not gonna lie and say that there aren't, you know, that I'm not a little bit sad and disappointed that you know we won't have Matt in office as governor to um to help address those those challenges. But um I could not be more proud to have worked for him and for and you know, not just for a candidate, but for a movement for pragmatic progressivism. Um, you know, I'm I couldn't be more proud to have worked for him and to have been part of that movement. And that movement continues. Um, you know, we have great candidates who did advance the general election. Uh Brian Goldsmith, uh, my friend who's running for state senate here in District 24. Um, he is now the frontrunner to make it uh to the state senate in November. And uh, you know, I plan on being involved in his campaign, whether it be just as a supporter, perhaps officially, who knows? I don't know. You know, it kind of also depends on how the race begins to take shape for the fall, uh, for the fall, for the November election. Yeah, maybe I'll be involved uh more officially in that effort. Um, but just as a supporter of his, I could not be more excited uh that he is uh in the general election. And um, you know, he shares Matt's ethos of being like, you know, a progressive. He's been endorsed by Pelosi, by Barbara Boxer, by Hillary Clinton. You know, he's a progressive Democrat through and through. But he also believes that we need to focus on results instead of just rhetoric. And I think that's a key distinction between what we see from a lot of politicians today. We don't hear a lot of uh politicians talking about tangible results over performative gestures and performative politics. And Brian is one of the few that that are talking or is talking about that. And he, thank God, will be uh in the general election this November. So I'm excited to do everything I can to support him. Um, you know, I would just say uh in closing that um while this was not the result that we obviously hoped for and worked for, um, I want to thank Matt Mahan for the trust that he put in me. I think, you know, as far as I'm concerned, in terms of you know, my my uh my involvement, I could not be more proud of the work that I did and that we did, you know, reaching out to members of the LGBTQ community here in LA. Um, you know, I mean, I went, like I said, I went all over the state, you know, all over, you know, uh all the way up to Fresno, to, you know, the Orange County, um, just you know, spreading the message. I'm I'm very proud of the work that I did uh and the that we did uh together. And I'm gonna continue fighting for the same principles. Uh I know Matt will too. Um that this this fight is not over for pragmatic progressivism. And I'm gonna continue, you know, speaking out through this podcast, through my writing, perhaps getting involved officially or non-officially with other campaigns as well that share the same ethos. And who knows what the future holds. You know, I've said on this podcast um a few months ago that you know I wasn't necessarily done with running for office myself. Um, you know, I don't necessarily know if that'll be uh in this election. Uh, you know, I don't, I don't think uh, you know, I think right now I'm focused on just taking a beat and figuring out what those next steps look like. But um, you know, I always viewed this race, uh, you know, this this primary campaign for governor as um just as a learning opportunity, as an opportunity to make a difference, to try to make a difference, to try to make an impact. And that regardless of the result, I was going to continue doing um what I've always been doing, what I've always been doing, or what I've always done, you know, at least since I was a teenager, which is trying to make a difference in every way that I can. And so um, and so that's that is not going to change. And uh, and we still have a lot of work to do between now and November um in the midterms. Uh, you know, Democrats are in a great spot, you know, we're a few points up, according to most polls, on the generic ballot for Congress. Um, but you know, it's far from a sure thing. Um, you know, we the we have a lot of work to do to make sure the Democrats regain control of the of the House and the Senate uh in November. And so I'm gonna do everything I can as part of that fight as well. Um obviously it's Pride Month, so as as melancholy and maudlin as I might be a little bit regarding the uh governor's race, I'm also really excited about Pride. You know, it's beautiful weather here in LA. Uh, it's not too hot. It's like in the early, sort of like low mid-70s, so but it's perfect. The sun's out. Uh it's you know, today it's the beginning of Pride Month, summer's coming up. Um, there's a lot of reasons to be happy and to be optimistic about the future. I'm gonna take a few days to just um you know take a beat, take a deep breath, recalibrate, figure out what the next steps look like. Uh, but in the meantime, I'm gonna keep doing this podcast. We have some amazing guests coming up uh this month, like some seriously epic guests, um, which I think you're gonna find very uh exciting and cool. So uh we're gonna keep keep on moving forward on that front. I'm gonna start focusing on the writing again. So you'll see a lot of output on that front as well. And I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for supporting me on this journey. Um, you know, uh, like I said, I've been through a lot of campaigns. I'm only 34, but I've worked on presidential campaigns, I've worked on mayoral campaigns, I've run for office twice myself. And, you know, losing is not easy, um, especially when you know you're working for a candidate that you really believe in. Um, but like I said, uh, I am so much happier having worked for someone who I really believe in, um, who didn't necessarily win, but someone who I really felt deeply and passionately about than just working for someone because you think, you know, uh the betting market show that they have the best shot of chance of winning. Like, what's the point in that? You know, unless you're looking to climb the ladder or just, you know, just work, or just, you know, make, you know, if it's all about you know self-serving, you know, being ambitious and trying to build a political career. That's never what it's been about for me. Um, there have been a lot of times where I could have gone for the safer bet, but for me, it's not about that. It's about, you know, who do I really think is going to make this city, this state, this country a better place. And um, and so, you know, uh, we left it all on the field. And uh I just can't thank all of you for supporting me along the way, for supporting me along this journey, and uh, and for following me and supporting me as I move forward into the future and figure out what that future looks like. So thank you all so much, and I'll see you next week. Thank you all for joining me on this episode of Dukes Download. Please like, share, subscribe, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to questions at Dukesdownload.com. See you for next week's episode. Thank you for joining me today on Duke's Download. This podcast is part of Pridehouse Media, hosted by me, Duke Mason, produced and edited by Josh Rosen's Weich. Original music composed by Nell Balaban. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're there, leave us a rating and review. It really helps others to discover the show. I'd love to stay connected with you, so join the conversation by following me at James Duke Mason on Instagram and X, or by emailing me at questions at Dukesdownload.com.