Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, will run for lieutenant governor in 2026, according to campaign paperwork filed Sunday morning.
Tubbs currently serves as a special adviser to California Gov. Gavin Newsom focusing on poverty and inequality. He also leads a coalition of mayors pursuing guaranteed income projects and recently headlined a listening tour of California about poverty. He has lived in Los Angeles since 2021.
While the lieutenant governor position has little power, it is often a stepping stone to higher office. California Govs. Gavin Newsom and Gray Davis both served as lieutenant governor before being elected to the top job.
And with current Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis seeking the governorship in 2026, Tubbs’ race is likely wide open. The current field mostly features members of the California State Legislature, although State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León have also jumped in.
“Michael looks forward to sharing more with the people of Stockton and California in the coming days,” a Tubbs spokesperson wrote to Stocktonia.
Politico first reported in April that Tubbs was considering a lieutenant governor run. Tubbs filed his candidacy with the California Secretary of State on Sunday with an Oakland-based campaign consulting firm, but had the domain name michaeltubbsforca.com registered back in May. He also purchased tubbs4ca.com on Friday.
Raised in poverty by a single mother in south Stockton before attending Stanford, Tubbs was elected to his hometown’s City Council in 2012. In 2016, he was elected the city’s first Black mayor and one of the youngest in the country. His national star rose quickly after he established one of the nations first universal basic income pilot programs in Stockton.
But his high-profile connections outside the city also became a source of criticism from local website 209Times and Stockton voters, who hadn’t elected a mayor to two terms for nearly 20 years. Tubbs ultimately lost reelection in 2020 to current mayor Kevin Lincoln by nearly 13 points.
Tubbs is not the only Stockton politician to have recently eyed higher office. State Sen. Susan Eggman, who represents western San Joaquin County in the California Legislature, formed a committee in March to run for state treasurer. Eggman had previously opened a committee for the lieutenant governor race, but has since closed it and transferred more than $100,000 in cash to her state treasurer campaign.
Representatives in Eggman’s office did not immediately return requests for comment.
Eggman, who terms out of the state Legislature this year, formerly served on the Stockton City Council before being elected to the California State Assembly in 2012. She ran for state Senate in 2020.
Miriam Waldvogel is serving a summer internship with Stocktonia. She attends Princeton University and is a Stockton native.