Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs is officially launching his campaign for California lieutenant governor in 2026.
Tubbs has served as a special adviser for economic mobility and opportunity to Gov. Gavin Newsom since 2021. He said this experience, coupled with his journey raising three young children, are the reasons why he decided to throw his hat in the ring.
“I’ve been up and down the state meeting with community groups and community leaders, talking not just about guaranteed income, but about poverty, about the economy, really about California and how to make it work,” Tubbs said in an interview with The Record ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. “It was striking to me that no matter where I was, whether it was Antioch or Los Angeles or Ontario or San Bernardino, the problems were all the same and people thought somehow I had a way to help them without being elected.”