Ex-mayor Michael Tubbs reflects on the Stockton shooting and what comes next
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
EX-MAYOR REFLECTS ON STOCKTON TRAGEDY
For some, Stockton is synonymous with Michael Tubbs, the upstart progressive who was elected mayor at the age of 26 and piloted a pioneering Universal Basic Income program in 2019. Tubbs lost a bid for re-election in 2020 and launched his 2026 bid for California lieutenant governor in July 2024.
The ex-mayor spoke with The Sacramento Bee Monday, two days after the mass shooting incident that killed four people, including three children, and injured 11 during a child’s birthday party. Tubbs called after he’d finished speaking with his “dear friend” and campaign volunteer, Jasmine Delafosse, who was one of the people injured in the shooting. The following Q&A has been lightly edited and condensed.
I understand that you were just on the phone with your friend who was injured in the shooting. How is that person doing?
(Delafosse) has been a longtime anti-violence advocate in the city who has devoted her life to making Stockton safer for everyone. So she’s a little bit shocked. She’s in deep mourning because she saw those babies, as she called them, murdered next to her, around her, right? So I think she’s still dealing with the trauma, yeah, and also just thinking through, what’s going to be the solution? Like, once we catch the perpetrators, once we prosecute those responsible, what’s next? Like, how do you make sure that Stockton is a safe community?
The shooting happened in northern Stockton at the Monkey Space venue on Lucile Avenue. Are you familiar with that area?
Yes.
Can you describe it? What’s that area like?
What’s unique to Stockton is that pockets of violence are found throughout the city. So in almost every council district, there’s a hot spot area, an area that has had a history of violence, certain streets, certain neighborhoods. So where that shooting took place was in a commercial area with a Dairy Queen, a CrossFit gym not too far away, but also within a mile to half a mile, was one of the hot spot areas in the city.
What have you been thinking and feeling as more details have come to light about what happened on Saturday?
First and foremost, what a horrific, atrocious tragedy, that no community, that no family, that no person deserves to have experienced. As someone who lost a cousin to gun violence, which is what prompted me to run for office the first time, I just know that trauma, that pain and that anger really never goes away, that sense of loss, that sense of being robbed.
And then number two, just from my time in local office, I spend a lot of hours thinking about: How do you prevent and reduce gun violence? Knowing that there’s no magic wand, but there are solutions that work.
In Stockton, less than 1% (of the population) drive 80% of the homicides and shootings in the city, and there are strategies that the government and the community can employ that can reduce these numbers, which is what we did.
I’m thinking about how did we deviate as a community from those strategies, and how do you go back to those so that we create safety, so that no two-year-old birthday party is shot because of group gang violence again.
To change gears a bit, I understand that you’re running for lieutenant governor. You announced in the summer of 2024. Why run for that role?
I truly believe the next four to eight years in California will determine the next 40, and as a millennial, just knowing how almost impossible it is for anyone in my generation to own a home, or the fact that California is tied with Louisiana for the highest poverty rate in the country, or the fact that most people in California, at least half of California, can’t afford to be in California – these are problems that Donald Trump didn’t cause.
So I decided to run for lieutenant governor, because just from my experience in Stockton, I recognize that, yes – stand up against Donald Trump. But we also have to govern. We also have to make sure that we are just as critical about the things that we’re doing and that we actually govern based on outcomes, that the most progressive thing we can do is demand that California’s government works for everyone, and everyone has opportunity.
I think you might be best known as a face of universal basic income, which you championed in Stockton. What do you think of recent research that’s come out in the past couple of years – the OpenResearch Unconditional Cash Study, backed by Sam Altman, and various analyses, that have shown negligible impact from UBI in certain cities?
If you go to guaranteedincomeworks.com, we have like 25 peer-reviewed studies of guaranteed income programs in cities that results are a little bit different from (Altman’s study and other analyses). But on those studies, what I would say is: number one, those studies took place during Covid-19, which was a very stressful economic time for everyone, A. And B, there were also some extra protections that the government gave, so stimulus checks, child tax credit, unemployment insurance, etc, which made the delta between those receiving guaranteed income and those who didn’t receive a guaranteed income in the pilots smaller.
Number two, I would say, when I was mayor of Stockton and we decided to do guaranteed income, everyone said that it would make people lazier, people wouldn’t work, and that people spend the money on drugs. Every study, even (the Altman-backed study) shows that to be false, that no, guaranteed income does not make people lazy, and if people work a little bit less, it’s because A, they’re getting a certification, they’re upskilling for a better job, or B, they’re taking care of their children, which is actually a smarter economic decision, particularly if you make minimum wage, given the cost of child care in this country.
And then lastly, I would say, I think part of the temptation is that we want easy solutions to everything, and the solution to unaffordable child care and unaffordable housing, low wages, inflation, etc, high health insurance…. yeah, it’d be great if $500 was enough to fix all that, but it’s not. It’s really about setting a floor.
As Stockton kind of continues to be in the news, and as more details come to light, could you share what is special about Stockton?
Stockton is the most diverse city in the country. Stockton has a rich history as a place where folks who have changed this country have spent time in — Dolores Huerta or Larry Itliong or Maya Angelou or Maxine Hong Kingston.
Stockton is a place of great resilience. I oftentimes say, I wish we didn’t have to be so resilient all the time. There’s a resilience and a fortitude that comes from being in a community that has experienced such hardships.
Stockton is a place with a great location. It’s a place with the oldest university in the state, the University of the Pacific. Stockton has the best food because of its diversity, like, seriously, the food trucks, the ethnic food. The oldest Sikh temple in North America is in Stockton. It’s just such an interesting place.
It’s also home, man, it’s just like — it’s home.
ISSA EYES LONE STAR STATE
Via David Lightman…
Rep. Darrell Issa may be engaging in a classic bit of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” as he reportedly considers leaving the San Diego area and running for Congress in Texas.
Issa, who has represented part of Southern California for all but two of the last 24 years, would lose a big chunk of his Republican-dominated district under the map approved by California voters last month.
Punchbowl News reported Monday that he’s considering a run in Texas, where five congressional district boundaries have been redrawn to make them more Republican-friendly.
Issa is not commenting as of the deadline.
He’s been a reliable conservative through the years, chairing the House Oversight and Reform Committee at one point and leading investigations into Obama administration practices and policies. A consumer electronics executive before coming to Congress, he’s considered one of its wealthiest members.
In October, Issa and Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, filed a lawsuit in Texas opposing California’s Proposition 50, saying Issa would be affected as a voter and a member of Congress. Issa said he would lose seniority in important committees and have less influence. Jackson said that if the House was run by Democrats, he too would lose clout.
Prop. 50 aims to flip five seats now held by Republicans. Democrats need a net gain of three seats in next year’s midterm elections to win control of the House.
Democrats were quick to pounce on the Issa news. “Darrell Issa knows his record of self-dealing, raising costs, and gutting health care is going to cost him his seat, so he’s ready to move over 600 miles to keep doing Mike Johnson and Donald Trump’s bidding, before facing the Californians he’s failed. It’s cowardice at its finest,” said Anna Elsasser, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The BOWOW Act sends a clear message that we will stand up for our four-legged friends and have zero tolerance for any immigrants who assault them.”
- Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, chief sponsor of the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals Act, which is moving through Congress.
Best of The Bee:
What we know about mass shooting in Stockton that killed 4, wounded 11 via Kathleen Quinn , Graham Womack and Daniel Lempres
Gaps remain in CA methane leak oversight as air agency updates landfill rules via Chaewon Chung
Deport non-citizens hurting dogs, Republicans say after K9 Freddie is attacked via David Lightman
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM.
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