Former mayor known for guaranteed income programs launches candidacy for lieutenant governor of California

SACRAMENTO, California – Michael Tubbs is running for lieutenant governor of California, returning to politics four years after voters in his Central Valley hometown unseated him as one of the youngest mayors in the country following the restart of guaranteed income programs for poor people who made him a star.

The 2026 campaign, announced Wednesday, offers something of a soft landing point for Tubbs, as it will give him experience running a statewide campaign for an office that receives little public attention and is mostly ceremonial. The main function is to hold office whenever the governor is out of state, and the only real power comes from serving on the boards of regents of the University of California and California State University.

However, Tubbs sees opportunities in the role similar to those he had during his tenure as mayor of Stockton, where he fused the power of his personal story with ambitious plans for the often-forgotten city, becoming a rising figure among state Democrats seeking looking for inspiration after Republican Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.

“Often it’s not about the formal role or the statutory authority of a position, but it’s actually about the leader in that position… and how they’re able to use that position to do things and make things big or make success. meaningful to the people they want to serve,” Tubbs said.

Raised by a single mother and an incarcerated father, Tubbs graduated from Stanford and interned in the Obama White House before winning election as Stockton’s first black mayor in 2016, when he was just 26.

His biggest success was getting funding from Silicon Valley for a guaranteed income program which paid poor people $500 a month, with no restrictions on how they could spend the money. The program, a relaunch of an old idea, spawned dozens of similar programs across the country, culminating with the California Legislature reserving US$35 million for guaranteed income programs that benefit pregnant women and former foster children.

But Tubbs’ celebrity status turned off some voters in Stockton, and he lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Republican Kevin Lincoln, a little-known figure at the time.

Since then, Tubbs has followed a familiar script of political rehabilitation. He acted like a unpaid advisor to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and published a memoir while working with a coalition he founded to help launch guaranteed income programs across the country.

For Tubbs to complete the comeback and win the job, he will have to beat some formidable candidates with plenty of experience in Sacramento, including Democrat Fiona Ma, who is finishing two terms as state treasurer, and state Sen. Steven Bradford, known for pushing California closer to becoming the first state to offer reparations for slavery.

“I have a history of doing difficult things,” Tubbs said. “When we think about the problems that were caused by Sacramento or that tried to be solved by Sacramento, I’m just not convinced that those same problems can be solved by people who spent decades in Sacramento.”

Lieutenant governor has been a stepping stone to the governorship for some, including Newsom, who was lieutenant governor for eight years before being elected to his current position in 2018. In the 1990s, Democrat Gray Davis also held the position before winning the state’s top job. position, and current Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is a strong contender in a field of candidates to replace Newsom in the 2026 election.

Tubbs said he considers the work important in its own right. But he still has his eye on the future.

“My hope is to do such a good job…that in four to eight years, after the job, I have all kinds of options of things to do,” he said.