Matt Gonzalez On His Political Future

Q: Matt, thank you for your time. My first question, and I am sure this is everyone’s question, are you running against Newsom?

A: I think I’m doing exactly what I said I would do -- beginning about 6 or 7 months ago. I said I thought someone should run against Newsom and initiate a public dialogue about the failings of his Administration.

But since I’m doing something else right now, building a progressive law practice, I did not then -- and still in a way -- do not believe this is an ideal time for me to enter another Mayor’s race.

I said very clearly though, that I felt strongly enough that there should be a contested race. And that if no other viable candidate emerged to challenge Newsom, I would consider doing so.

Let me emphasize. I did not – nor do I want to – discourage anyone from entering this race. I have never believed that a rematch, so to speak, is ideal. And as a result I have, fairly openly, encouraged others to enter the contest.

Q: So how are you going to handle this? From all the blogs I’ve been reading and from people I hear talking about it on the street, you are the only viable candidate. What do you say to that?

A: I don’t agree with that. There are other candidates who are viable. They simply are more risk averse than I am.

The difference is I am less inclined to believe in Newsom’s invincibility. Do you remember how strong Newsom was 4 years ago? When I first got in the race I was at 6% in the polls and look how close we came to winning. So I’m not put off by his popularity or spin machine. I think many others are scared to take on the challenge right now and would rather wait 4 years when there is an open seat.

Also, keep in mind that whoever gets into this race will have to grapple with how we unite what can often be disparate parts of our progressive coalition. That’s not always such an easy thing to do and looks particularly hard to do right now.

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