San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Faces Scrutiny Over Social Media Use During Gubernatorial Run

Weeks after announcing his bid for California governor, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan launched recent social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram designated for official city messaging. This move followed concerns within City Hall regarding Mahan’s prior practice of using personal social media accounts for both official city business and self-promotion. These concerns have intensified as his personal channels increasingly focus on promoting his gubernatorial campaign.

Concerns Over Blurring Lines Between Official and Campaign Activity

City officials maintain the new city-backed accounts clarify official communication. However, critics argue that years of mixed messaging have weakened the separation between government business and campaign activity, potentially violating election laws. Two City Hall staffers, speaking anonymously to San José Spotlight, allege that Mahan has assigned city employees to perform on his personal social media accounts. While there’s no indication these employees directly contributed to campaign posts, the staffers contend that using city resources for personal accounts, especially for campaign purposes, is inappropriate.

Mayor’s Office Response

Seamus Gann, spokesperson for Mayor Mahan, stated that the mayor’s social media practices are within legal bounds. “Consistent with state law and guidance from the City Attorney’s Office, elected officials are permitted to share both personal and official updates on personal social media accounts,” Gann told San José Spotlight. Gann did not respond to questions regarding the claims of city staff time being used for personal accounts.

Social Media Activity and Timing of New Accounts

Mahan’s personal X and Instagram accounts, each with approximately 20,000 followers, regularly post multiple times daily, covering city policies, responses to local crimes, and staged events like trash cleanup. More recently, these channels have prominently featured his “Back to Basics” policy agenda and, since his January 29th gubernatorial announcement, explicit campaign messaging.

Days after Mahan announced his candidacy, the San Jose Office of Employee Relations issued a reminder to city employees on February 4th regarding legal restrictions on using city resources for political campaigns. The timing of this advisory, so close to the launch of the mayor’s election bid, raised eyebrows. However, a spokesperson for the City Manager’s Office explained that such reminders are standard practice during election years.

Critics Question Value of New Accounts

Critics argue that even with the launch of city-backed accounts, San Jose is at a disadvantage. While Mahan’s campaign benefits from the established follower base of his personal channels, the new city accounts are starting from scratch. This raises concerns about the potential misuse of public resources for campaign gain, potentially violating California laws prohibiting the use of city resources for election purposes.

Legal Expert Weighs In

Caitlin Robinett Jachimowicz, an election law expert and administrator at Santa Clara University School of Law, expressed skepticism about a legal violation. She noted that laws governing social media use by elected officials are still evolving and that, unless staff members are directly posting campaign content, proving a violation would be tough. “Even though his followers grew during this time, I think that’s a stretch,” Jachimowicz told San José Spotlight.

Past Scrutiny and Policy Changes

This isn’t the first time Mahan’s social media practices have faced scrutiny. During his 2021 mayoral campaign, San José Spotlight reported he used his Facebook account to promote both city and campaign content. Since then, city rules governing social media use have been overhauled following a 2023 controversy involving former District 7 Councilmember Maya Esparza. The new policy, enacted at the start of 2024, requires all official city communications to originate from city-backed accounts and prohibits links to campaign materials on city-backed platforms.

Ethical Considerations

Davina Hurt, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, acknowledged that launching government-backed accounts is a positive step. However, she emphasized the need for San Jose to fully account for any public resources used to build or manage the accounts, suggesting a separate campaign site would be a more defensible standard. “That includes not carrying over followers that may have been accumulated through publicly funded work,” Hurt told San José Spotlight.