Marshall Woodmansee

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Marshall Woodmansee

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 7, 2022

Education

Associate

De Anza Community College, 2021

Bachelor's

San José State University, 2023

Personal

Birthplace

San Francisco, Calif.

Profession

Residential handyman

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

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Campaign YouTube

Marshall Woodmansee ran for election for Mayor of San Jose in California. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.

Woodmansee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marshall Woodmansee was born in San Francisco, California. Woodmansee earned an associate degree from De Anza Community College in 2021 and studied for a bachelor's degree at San Jose State University. His career experience includes working as a residential handyman and classroom manager at the Santa Clara YMCA.

Elections

2022

See also: Mayoral election in San Jose, California (2022)

General election

General election for Mayor of San Jose

Matt Mahan defeated Cindy Chavez in the general election for Mayor of San Jose on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Mahan (Nonpartisan)	51.2	128,376
		Cindy Chavez (Nonpartisan)	48.8	122,329

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 250,705
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of San Jose

The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of San Jose on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Chavez (Nonpartisan)	39.1	65,501
✔		Matt Mahan (Nonpartisan)	32.3	54,076
		Devora Davis (Nonpartisan)	10.9	18,235
		Raul Peralez (Nonpartisan)	9.0	15,121
	Submit photo	James Spence (Nonpartisan)	6.9	11,549
	Submit photo	Travis Nicholas Hill (Nonpartisan)	1.0	1,722
		Marshall Woodmansee (Nonpartisan)	0.7	1,199

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 167,403
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jonathan Esteban (Nonpartisan)

2020

See also: City elections in San Jose, California (2020)

General election

General election for San Jose City Council District 6

Incumbent Devora Davis defeated Jake Tonkel in the general election for San Jose City Council District 6 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Devora Davis (Nonpartisan)	53.9	24,340
		Jake Tonkel (Nonpartisan)	46.1	20,840

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 45,180
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Jose City Council District 6

Incumbent Devora Davis and Jake Tonkel defeated Ruben Navarro and Marshall Woodmansee in the primary for San Jose City Council District 6 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Devora Davis (Nonpartisan)	48.4	13,175
✔		Jake Tonkel (Nonpartisan)	27.9	7,596
	Submit photo	Ruben Navarro (Nonpartisan)	16.7	4,557
		Marshall Woodmansee (Nonpartisan)	7.0	1,910

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,238
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released May 24, 2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marshall Woodmansee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Woodmansee's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Marshall A. Woodmansee and I am running to be the next mayor of San Jose. If elected, I will begin my management of the 10th largest city in the nation at the age of 22. I am ready for this monumental challenge because I have nearly 15 years of experience as an activist, 10 years as a community organizer/fundraiser, and 5 years of running public campaigns. I was paid well for my leadership skills as a field director for Cortese for CA State Senate 2020 and have volunteered on numerous campaigns including my own campaign for San Jose City Council District 6 in 2020. I am a student at San Jose State University B.A. in Global Studies, I received my A.A. from De Anza Community College in Math, Science, and Engineering. I have served as a legislative intern for CA Assemblymember Ash Kalra, an organizer for the 2018 San Jose Gun Buyback and 2018 March for our Lives protest for gun control, president and co-founder of youth-led activism group Project Now SJ, long-term fundraiser for non-profit The Central YMCA annual campaign, and Junior Guide at the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.

If elected, I will work to secure a better, healthier, safer, and more sustainable future.

Together, we will engineer safety for walking and biking, we will grow food, we will conserve water, we will build all types of homes, and so much more.

I will use my position to advocate for national policies including universal basic income, universal childcare, and reproductive freedom

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Immediate and deep reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Work to eliminate drug and alcohol dependence.
• Build homes and make space for agricultural farms.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about public safety. Public safety is preventing property crime, engineering safe streets for cyclists and pedestrians, providing spaces for people to recover from addiction, and overhauling the structure of our police force, among other things.

I am passionate about public safety because there have been so many moments when my safety was compromised. Like when all the bicycles were stolen from my parent's house, when my father was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike, when a San Jose police officer threatened my right to peacefully protest, when I was physically assaulted while living in an RV in downtown San Jose, when my friends die of drug-overdoses, when gun violence ripped through our schools, and so many other moments.

In our concentrated effort to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas), we will find new ways to promote public safety especially through addressing some of the root causes of crime and violent anti-social behavior and promoting unarmed community policing.

I am passionate about de-funding the San Jose Police Department by as much as USD 100,000,000 to invest in community support services, addiction therapy clinics, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and programs to support convicted individuals.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official should be ready to adopt transformative social change and answer only to their constituents not private interests or business or union lobbyists.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have real-life experience with homelessness, addiction, gun violence, depression, and isolation. I don't drive a car and take mass transit. I am aware of the need for change and willing to make it happen. I am not beholden to any private interests.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to make San Jose a global leader in the movement to transition away from fossil fuels.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event in my lifetime that I remember was the passing of the Paris Climate Agreement--a groundbreaking international effort to correct the path of human civilization. I had just turned fifteen and was halfway through my second-ever year at public school. I remember the conversations I had with my parents, both committed climate activists, about what it meant to be nearing 1.5 degrees celsius higher average global temperature above 20th-century levels. I remember how nearly every year of my life (starting in 2000) reorder record high global average temperatures. I remember the discussions about ocean acidification, more extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity, and so much more. This was a big moment for humanity and the starting point of my laser focus on finding a new way of life--one without fossil fuels. There is still much work to do. A deep and immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions can and should start now.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Housing. Ever since I chose to move out of my parent's house in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the stresses it caused our family, I have been housing unstable. For almost two years I have slept on friends' couches and lived in an RV. I was grateful to rent my own apartment for a few months in 2021 but spent most of that year living in an RV in the heart of Downtown San Jose next to the Guadalupe River. What I saw and learned while living under the HWY 87 bridge at West Santa Clara street gave me a new perspective on the crisis that we are living through. People need my help.

A mayor is a leader in his or her city. What does that mean to you?

A mayor in San Jose is a leader and a guide for the city. A mayor sets the agenda both literally and figuratively as the leader of the City Council. A mayor is an important connection between people and their government as so much of our daily lives revolve around the city in which we live. The mayor of a large urban area, such as San Jose, has the responsibility to act in preservation of health, happiness, wellbeing, and safety. A mayor should serve only the real, breathing people that reside in their realm. A mayor should guide the city to adopt policies that make the city more walkable and safer for elderly and youth. A mayor should promote peace and unity by allocating tax dollars to community events and celebrations of art and culture. A mayor should be the key to a vibrant police force that actually serves and protects and has no unnecessary violence.

Mayors have many responsibilities, which vary from city to city. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your city?

In San Jose, the mayor must be especially aware of the need to reimagine transportation, food production, development, public safety, infrastructure, industry, education, and social support in the 21st century and dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels in each sector.

The mayor must ensure that every resident has access to addiction therapy clinics.

If the mayor in your city is a member of the city council and there's a city manager appointed to handle the day-to-day administration of the city government, what do you believe should be the mayor's top priority in office?

The mayors top priority should be to focus solely on issues that relate to the public not to corporations or private interests. This means preventing the development of commercial property for housing and agricultural land use, engineering safety into our roads to eliminate traffic fatalities, and redirecting police funding to support community services.

What do you love most about your city?

I love how diverse and spread-out San Jose is. It seems like every mile--or sometimes even every 1/2 mile--you travel in San Jose you find a unique neighborhood or business center. Our diverse population makes us strong, more compassionate, and more resilient.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

The greatest challenge over the next decade is to secure basic needs for all people: food, shelter, and water. By locally growing produce, finding creative and effective ways to house all individuals, and conserving and collecting water we can prosper as a community through the 21st century.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the state government?

The city should have a strong relationship with the state government where policy and values flow both directions.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the federal government?

The city should have a strong relationship with the federal government where policy and values flow both directions.

Tell us your favorite joke.

A sandwich and a slice of pizza walk into a bar. The bar tender says "sorry, we don't serve food here."

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor's office and law enforcement?

The mayor should overhaul public safety by working with a diverse coalition of community stakeholders. The mayor should encourage officers that engage in unnecessary violent behavior to be taken to court, explore new ways to promote safety in our neighborhoods, develop programs to place unarmed officers on every corner in downtown San Jose, and explore ways to engage community members in community policing and safety.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Marshall Woodmansee did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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Mayor of San Jose

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