Michael Tubbs
Michael Tubbs was the Mayor of Stockton in California. He assumed office in 2017. He left office on December 31, 2020.
Tubbs (Democratic Party) ran for election for Lieutenant Governor of California. He lost in the primary on June 2, 2026.
Tubbs completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Michael Tubbs earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a graduate degree from Stanford University. He has been affiliated with Mayors for Guaranteed Income and End Poverty in California.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026
California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 2 top-two primary)
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Lieutenant Governor of California
Fiona Ma and Gloria J. Romero are running in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of California on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
Fiona Ma (D) ![]() | ||
Gloria J. Romero (R) ![]() | ||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of California on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Fiona Ma (D) ![]() | 19.1 | 1,631,935 | |
| ✔ | Gloria J. Romero (R) ![]() | 17.8 | 1,521,181 | |
Josh Fryday (D) ![]() | 14.7 | 1,256,824 | ||
Michael Tubbs (D) ![]() | 13.3 | 1,132,160 | ||
Oliver Ma (D) ![]() | 7.3 | 621,147 | ||
David Collenberg (R) ![]() | 7.0 | 594,336 | ||
| David Fennell (R) | 6.1 | 521,455 | ||
| Skip Shelton (R) | 4.0 | 345,324 | ||
Janelle Kellman (D) ![]() | 3.6 | 311,237 | ||
Ebie Lynch (R) ![]() | 1.8 | 156,714 | ||
| Tim Myers (D) | 1.6 | 132,564 | ||
Alice Stek (Peace and Freedom Party) ![]() | 1.5 | 125,100 | ||
Jeyson Lopez (D) ![]() | 1.1 | 94,058 | ||
Abdur Sikder (D) ![]() | 0.6 | 51,620 | ||
Sean Collinson (No party preference) ![]() | 0.3 | 24,927 | ||
| Rakesh Christian (No party preference) | 0.2 | 12,870 | ||
James Cameron (R) (Write-in) ![]() | 0.0 | 45 | ||
| Mushtaq Tahirkheli (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 7 | ||
| Total votes: 8,533,504 | ||||
= 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
- Brian Jones (R)
- Mike Schaefer (D)
- Steven Bradford (D)
- Toni Atkins (D)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Tubbs received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Tubbs's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- West Hollywood Beverly Hills Democratic Club
- Working Families Party
- SEIU Local 521
- CA Votes Progressive (Sway voting group by June Paniouchkine)
- CALIFORNIA LIBERAL DEMOCRATS (Sway voting group by JCP YOU KNOW ME)
- California Environmental Voters
- Courage California
- Election Day is Every Tuesday (Sway voting group by Ariella Elm)
- KaitlynDoesPolitics (Sway voting group by Kaitlyn Hennessy)
- Legalmiga's Legit Picks (Sway voting group by Taylor Tieman (@legalmiga))
- Loren Piretra's Voter Guide (Sway voting group by Loren Piretra)
- New Deal Dems (Sway voting group by Hunter Dunn)
- San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board
- The Overwhelmed San Franciscan's Voting Group (Sway voting group by The Overwhelmed San Franciscan)
- Voting is a Team Sport | Katie Grossbard (Sway voting group by Katie Grossbard)
- Working Families Party California's Voting Group (Sway voting group by Working Families Party California)
- YIMBY Action
- Yaysayers (Sway voting group by Eric Say More)
2020
See also: Mayoral election in Stockton, California (2020)
General election
General election for Mayor of Stockton
Kevin Lincoln II defeated incumbent Michael Tubbs in the general election for Mayor of Stockton on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kevin Lincoln II (Nonpartisan) | 56.4 | 57,276 | |
| Michael Tubbs (Nonpartisan) | 43.6 | 44,206 | ||
| Total votes: 101,482 | ||||
= 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 Mayor of Stockton
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Stockton on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michael Tubbs (Nonpartisan) | 41.5 | 21,016 | |
| ✔ | Kevin Lincoln II (Nonpartisan) | 21.6 | 10,927 | |
| William Smith (Nonpartisan) | 11.2 | 5,679 | ||
| Motecuzoma Sánchez (Nonpartisan) | 10.9 | 5,523 | ||
| Shoua Lo (Nonpartisan) | 5.5 | 2,773 | ||
| Ralph White (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 2,179 | ||
| Shelly Hollis (Nonpartisan) | 3.4 | 1,698 | ||
| Andrew Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 1.3 | 674 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 136 | ||
| Total votes: 50,605 | ||||
= 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. | ||||
2016
| Obama endorsement |
|---|
| During the 2016 election cycle Tubbs was one of the candidates endorsed by President Barack Obama |
Full list of Obama's 2016 endorsements |
| Mayor of Stockton, Nonpartisan General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| 70.57% | 56,165 | |
| Anthony Silva Incumbent | 29.43% | 23,426 |
| Total Votes | 79,591 | |
| Source: San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "Election Results," accessed November 9, 2016 | ||
| Mayor of Stockton, Nonpartisan Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| 33.55% | 9,700 | |
| 26.02% | 7,521 | |
| Carlos Villapudua | 23.81% | 6,884 |
| Tony Mannor | 4.75% | 1,374 |
| Jimmy Rishwain | 4.38% | 1,265 |
| Gary Malloy | 4.23% | 1,223 |
| Sean Murray | 2.39% | 690 |
| Emiliano Benito Adams | 0.67% | 193 |
| Write-in votes | 0.2% | 59 |
| Total Votes | 28,909 | |
| Source: San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "Election Results," accessed June 8, 2016 | ||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Tubbs completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tubbs' responses.
| Collapse all
As Mayor, I raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. Additionally, I piloted the first mayor-led guaranteed income pilot in the country.
Since leaving office, I have served as the Special Advisor for Economic Mobility to California Governor Gavin Newsom; the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income; and the founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC).- Supporting a Marshall Plan level approach to building housing in California including blocking unfettered private equity consolidation of residential real estate.
- Expanding economic opportunity through expansion of guaranteed income programs, vocational training at community colleges, and exploring ways to ensure wealth generated from AI is shared broadly to unlock economic opportunity in all communities.
- Expanding educational opportunity through building more student and workforce housing and lowering the cost of higher education
California is the 4th largest economy in the world, but for who? Far too often, it’s not working for everyday people who need affordable housing and groceries. Sacramento is not producing results for the average Californian and that’s a huge reason why I decided to step into the race.
Today, as a father of three young children, I see California’s future through their eyes. I know firsthand how the statewide decisions we make in the next few years are going to shape California for decades to come.
I’m running for LG to build a California future that sets the example for how government can work for everyone. This state should lead the nation not by talking about problems, but solving them.
After talking with current students in the UC system, I know there are ways we can fix this. Firstly, we can connect financial aid systems at public colleges and universities to CalFresh. We can alert folks from lower income backgrounds of their eligibility for CalFresh and make it easier for folks to enroll. Secondly, we must build more affordable housing on these campuses. These universities and colleges have a very unique right to build, which means we can––and should––greenlight affordable housing for students, faculty, and staff to tackle the housing crises hitting these campuses.
My father is in prison. My cousin, Donnell, was shot and killed when I was in college. Their stories made me want to defy the odds and not succumb to the fate society said was in store for me. They also propelled me to look deeper and to commit my life to challenging and solving these inequities. In a more just system, overcoming poverty wouldn’t be a Herculean task. Talent is universal, we just have yet to ensure that opportunity and resources are universal as well.
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
Michael Tubbs did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Tubbs submitted the following candidate statement to the City of Stockton:
Note: You can navigate the documents by zooming in or out with the + and - buttons and using the horizontal and vertical scrollbars on the document.
Additional themes
Tubbs' campaign website listed the following themes for 2016:
| “ |
SAFE STREETS, SECURE NEIGHBORHOODS
NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION
EDUCATION
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INNOVATION
A HOUSING FIRST MODEL FOCUSED ON ENDING HOMELESSNESS
ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITY
|
” |
| —Michael Tubbs (2016)[4] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
Noteworthy events
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
Tubbs was mayor of Stockton during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Stockton, California, began on Sunday, May 31, 2020.[5] Before the demonstrations, Mayor Michael Tubbs (D) and other city officials hosted a virtual community town hall on policing and community relations.[6] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
| To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right. | |||
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Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 16, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "List of Candidates for June 7, 2016," March 17, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Michael Tubbs for Mayor, "Issues," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Kevin John," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "Michael Tubbs," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021
- ↑ CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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