SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The two candidates in San Jose's mayoral race are taking pot shots at each other over a recent campaign ad.
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Mayoral candidate and Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez recently released an attack ad which suggested her opponent, San Jose City Councilmember Matt Mahan, has a patchy record of support for abortion rights.
In the ad, Chavez pointed out that the tech company Mahan formerly led, Brigade Media, did not take a position on abortion, an issue which is under a renewed spotlight after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.
In response, Mahan said he personally has always supported a woman's right to choose, but that his company was a non-partisan platform for civic engagement, meaning that it would have been inappropriate for the firm to take an official stand on any political issue.
He called the ad deliberately misleading and accused Chavez of resorting to toxic politics.
"She's conflating my personal political views with the policies of my company as an internet platform that needs to maintain free speech," Mahan told KCBS Radio. "I think that's intentionally misleading."
"This is kind of classic tactics from a career politician who’s taking things out of context and unfairly attacking me."
However, Chavez isn't backing down. She argued that all of the candidate’s past leadership decisions are fair game. Chavez told KCBS Radio that if Mahan plans to campaign on his past as a tech executive, "then you have to be able to be responsive to positions and actions that you’ve taken as a corporate leader."
"I think there are a lot of leaders in our community who have been very clear about their position irrespective of the role they were playing in our community," Chavez continued.
The two candidates, both Democrats, are vying to be the city's 66th mayor in the upcoming November election after each finished as the top two vote getters in the June primary, but neither received more than 50% of the vote.
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