San Jose is putting a hometown contender in the governor’s race. Just don’t expect the city’s political elite — or most people across the state — to recognize him.
With the support of several Black community leaders, Mount Pleasant Elementary School District Trustee Derek Grasty declared his candidacy in the 2026 California governor’s race Monday in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San Jose State University.
While cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles — even the suburban expanse of Orange County — have launched public servants into the Horseshoe in Sacramento, Northern California’s largest city has long struggled to see one of its own take the office. That’s an eyebrow-raising record considering the economic and political clout San Jose amassed as Silicon Valley’s capital. Moreover, Grasty’s announcement comes after Mayor Matt Mahan built considerable governor hype — crafting statewide name recognition through policy pushes and Newsom naysaying — only to publicly decline a run for governor during a Fox Los Angeles news interview last year.
Neither Grasty nor his supporters deny his candidacy is unconventional. It would be an unprecedented leap to go from school board member to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successor.
Yet his supporters say that’s the draw. Grasty, who is running as a Democrat, is betting on voters feeling the same statewide.
“The fact is nobody is talking about the issues I’m talking about,” Grasty told San José Spotlight. “We have comfortable career politicians who aren’t getting the job done and I’m here to fix that.”
At the podium, he told supporters his top priorities are pushing back against federal immigration enforcement crackdowns under President Donald Trump, while pushing for tax credits for families with newborns or expecting children and housing for teachers and firefighters.
The 64-year-old candidate said he’ll target wasteful government spending in California, specifically calling out more than $20 billion the state has allocated since 2019 on homelessness solutions.
“The lion’s share of that money can’t be tied to any positive outcomes,” Grasty said at the news conference. “I represent accountable leadership … No more waste from our government, the buck stops with me. I will be accountable for every dollar spent.”
Grasty was born in Virginia and started his education career in Detroit in the 1980s and later moved to Lynwood in Southern California. He now lives in San Jose. Records show Grasty has worked as a student mentor for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and a principal for the Palo Alto Unified School District. He’s also on the steering committee of the District 8 Community Roundtable.
But he’ll be up against big names with even bigger resumes in in the gubernatorial contest. That includes former state Senate President Pro Tem and state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter and former controller Betty Yee. He is also facing another educator — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
“The reality is that many of those big names have done very little,” San Jose Planning Commissioner Chuck Cantrell, who stood alongside Grasty at his announcement, told San José Spotlight. “I only support candidates who are actually there for the community, who listen to the community and who work for the community.”
Cantrell, a San José Spotlight columnist who highlights the economic suppression of Silicon Valley’s Black residents for his documentary series “Dying to Stay Here,” said Grasty’s candidacy embodies the exasperation of Black people being pushed to the side.
“I think we’re tired as a populous — tired of being intentionally undereducated, tired of being intentionally unfunded, tired of large interests getting the lion’s share while we are left to survive,” Cantrell said.
Raymond Goins, a formerly-incarcerated community activist who works with the civil rights network Silicon Valley De-Bug, said he wants a governor who isn’t a “traditional politician.”
“I support Derek because he comes from a background of education and I’m a byproduct of the school-to-prison pipeline,” Goins told San José Spotlight. “I believe firmly in the idea that if you invest in your community, a healthy root system will grow. I want a governor who will make sure my son doesn’t follow the same steps I took. I want a better California for my son.”
Grasty said his time as a Mount Pleasant school board member has trained him for the stage required for a statewide candidate.
“I’ve been in education most of my life,” Grasty said. “When you’re a teacher or principal or have worked with administrators — as I have — you’re out there in the public every day, meeting people all the time. I’ve been across the state, serving kids and listening to the community.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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