Michael Tubbs

Michael Derrick Tubbs (born August 2, 1990) is an American politician who is currently serving as a special adviser for economic mobility and opportunity for Governor Gavin Newsom.

In 2007, while a student at Franklin High School, he won an essay contest sponsored by Alice Walker.

His essay about overcoming the mistakes his parents made was published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

He criticized his father's "Scapegoat mentality" and praised his mother for overcoming adversity.

Tubbs graduated with an International Baccalaureate from Franklin High School in 2008.

That July, he was a member of a team of three San Joaquin County teenagers who won a national debate competition in Cincinnati sponsored by the NAACP.

They advocated for universal health care, and the debate was followed by a speech by the presidential candidate Barack Obama.

He then attended Stanford University on a need-based scholarship, graduating in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and a Master of Arts in Policy, Leadership and Organization Studies.

As an undergraduate, he received a Truman Scholarship, and was the joint winner of the university's Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel award for "distinctive and exceptional contributions to . . . the quality of student life."

During his time at Stanford, he also served as President of the school's NAACP chapter, and interned at the White House.

As a low-income college student, Tubbs was the first in his family to attend college and is a first-generation college student.

Tubbs ran against incumbent Dale Fritchen for Stockton Council District 6 in the November 6, 2012 general election.

He won the primary and received a $10,000 campaign donation from Oprah Winfrey after meeting her while she toured the Stanford campus.

Tubbs went on to win the election, receiving 61.7% of the vote, and took office in January 2013 at the age of 22, making him the youngest council member in Stockton history and one of the youngest elected officials in the United States.

His candidacy was also the subject of a documentary, True Son, which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.

Tubbs announced his candidacy for mayor of Stockton on September 2, 2015, running against incumbent Mayor Anthony Silva in the 2016 general election.

Tubbs was elected mayor in 2016, becoming the youngest mayor in Stockton's history and its first African-American mayor.

With his win, he also became the youngest mayor ever of a city with a population greater than 100,000.

He was endorsed by President Barack Obama on November 2, 2016, less than a week before the election.

He went on to win the election, receiving 70.6% of the vote and becoming both the city's first black mayor and at 26 the youngest person to hold that office.

A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 79th mayor of Stockton, California from 2017 to 2021, and as a member of the Stockton City Council from the 6th District from 2013 until 2017.

His term in office began on January 1, 2017.

Tubbs is a proponent of a universal basic income.

As part of the privately funded Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) pilot project, the city provided a $500 monthly stipend to 125 selected residents for an 18-month period with no strings attached beginning in February, 2019.

The project was sponsored by the Economic Security Project, an advocacy group chaired by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, which provided the first $1 million for the program, and a dozen other Silicon Valley organizations and private donors who funded the rest of its $3 million budget.

Tubbs helped assemble a national coalition of mayors who support UBI, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which had more than 60 participating cities by 2022.

During his term, Tubbs also established an intervention program to reduce gun violence, programs to reduce homelessness, and mentorships for at-risk students.

In December 2019, Tubbs endorsed the Democratic presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg.

In 2020, he lost reelection to Kevin Lincoln.

Tubbs was born in south Stockton and grew up in poverty.

His mother, Racole Dixon, was a teenager at the time of his birth, and his father, also named Michael Tubbs, is serving a third strike life sentence in prison for kidnapping, drug possession, and robbery.

Tubbs has a younger brother named Drevonte.

Tubbs attended Hamilton Middle School.

Tubbs ran for re-election to a second term as mayor in 2020, losing to Republican Kevin Lincoln.

In the first round of mayoral voting, held in June 2020, Tubbs came in first in a field of eight candidates, with 41.5% of the vote (with Lincoln coming in with 22%).

In the runoff election, held November 3, 2020, Tubbs lost to Lincoln 57% to 43%.

During the campaign, a social media page known as The 209 Times published numerous stories — many unfounded — accusing Tubbs of corruption.

(The 209 Times is run by Motec Patrick Sanchez, who came in fourth in the June primary election, with 10.5% of the vote.) Some attributed Tubbs's loss to the influence of the The 209 Times stories, however, Tubbs was also opposed by police and firefighters' unions.

During his reelection campaign, Tubbs was featured in an HBO documentary, Stockton on My Mind.

On March 11, 2021, he was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom as a special adviser for economic mobility and opportunity.