Super Tuesday is less than two weeks away now.
Since it’s a primary, most races will decide which two candidates move on to the general election in November.
But there will actually be a winner declared on March 5 in the San Jose mayoral race. There are only two candidates running, which are incumbent Matt Mahan and challenger Tyrone Wade.
Wade is a retired marriage, family, and crisis counselor and worked in several different city governments around the Bay Area.
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“Nothing has been done that I’ve wanted to be done by either the city government, the mayor or the city council,” Wade said.
Wade wants to reform child protective services and the police department. He believes counselors should be the ones responding to domestic violence calls and not officers. Wade says he also ran two homeless shelters and is qualified to handle the issue.
“There are 300 people who are living on the streets dying every year. It’s an epidemic that we have to take care of. Those are the kinds of things that my experience and training has prepared me to resolve,” Wade said.
On the other side is Mahan. He’s serving an unusual two-year term, because Mahan won the runoff in 2022, voters chose to move the mayoral election to align with the presidential years to increase voter turnout. So, he’s finishing a two-year term and seeking another four years.
“I think it’s critically important that we follow through on the work we’re doing to get people into basic dignified housing shelter and out of these tent encampments faster, hire more police officers and make our city safer, cleanup the city and expand economic opportunities for all our residents,” he said.
Mahan believes he’s made progress on his agenda for the city – but says there’s plenty more work to do.
“When we get the basics right, we create economic growth, more tax revenue and greater opportunities,” he said.
Since there are only two candidates the Mar. 5 election will decide the race. Ballots have been sent out but you can vote in person until the polls close on Mar. 5 at 8 p.m.
