The Backroom Deal That Shows Who Is Gavin Newsom 2.0

In California politics, the press loves a good feud. They paint the tension between Governor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as a generational clash. The entrenched establishment versus the pragmatic newcomer.

They are wrong.

Newsom ignores Mahan not because he views him as a rival. He ignores him because he is looking in a mirror.

They share the same slick style. They use the same buzzwords about "innovation." And most dangerously, they share the same willingness to sell you out to Pacific Gas & Electric.

To understand why your electricity bill is now the size of a car payment, look at Gavin Newsom. In 2019, while the ashes of the Camp Fire were still cooling, Newsom wasn’t working to break up the monopoly that killed 85 people. He was crafting its golden parachute.

Newsom signed AB 1054. This law, drafted with help from PG&E’s own former lawyers, created a bailout fund bankrolled by you. It gave the company a "safety certificate" to access that cash even if they started more fires. Newsom separated public safety from profit and sold the difference to Wall Street.

Since Newsom took office, electricity rates in California have surged by nearly 50%. Your bill didn't go up to keep the lights on. It went up to pay for Newsom's corruption.

Now look at San Jose. The mayor is running the exact same play.

For decades, San Jose held one powerful card: the threat of "municipalization." The city planned to create "San Jose Power" to own the local grid. Studies showed this could lower rates by up to 25% or more. It was the only real weapon we had to force competition.

In late 2025, the mayor folded.

His administration negotiated a private "Implementation Agreement" with PG&E. In a deal negotiated behind closed doors, he agreed to indefinitely pause the city’s municipal power efforts. In exchange, PG&E promised to "fast track" grid connections for massive data centers.

He didn’t sell out his city for a campaign donation. He sacrificed the public to please his true base. His Silicon Valley backers needed power for their data centers immediately. They didn't care if bills went up. They just needed the data centers to turn on.

So he traded away long-term relief to secure short-term profits for his tech donors.

Newsom bailed out PG&E to protect the establishment. The mayor protected PG&E to fast-track Big Tech. We can advance technology without sacrificing our affordability.

When you hear the mayor speak about "holding PG&E accountable," recognize it for what it is. It is the same empty rhetoric Newsom used. You cannot hold a monopoly accountable when you have surrendered your only weapon.

We cannot fix a state broken by corruption by replacing one slick talker with a younger version of himself. We have tried the polished politicians and they have left us with the highest poverty rate in the nation. It is time to stop negotiating with the arsonists that have burned our affordability and start fighting for the families left in the ashes.