Michael Tubbs

I do think that people deserve a basic economic floor so the bottom doesn't fall out under them.

There had to be something more important than me being comfortable, me being OK, and me being that one person that made it from Stockton. That's why I decided to run for city council in 2012.

California can't be a great state until all parts of the state are great.

I'm tired of talking about where we've been. I'm more interested in talking about where we're going.

For whatever reason, in this country we have a very interesting relationship with poverty, where we think people in poverty are bad people.

My mom was on welfare for the first five, six years of my life.

I chose Anna as my wife because she is so kind yet so strong and challenges me to become a better person. She has a heart of gold and is unafraid about speaking to and living her values.

I fully support accountability and transparency.

I was born and raised in the south side of Stockton, California, to a mother still in high school and a father in a juvenile detention facility.

As the documentary 'True Son' illustrates, my campaign for city council started really small - with eight mostly political neophytes in my living room and with young people knocking on doors.

It's important to invest in our kids who are going to go to college or community college or a trade school.

We're not just designed just to work all day and run a rat race. We're designed to be in community, to volunteer, to vote, to raise our kids. And I think the more inputs and investments we can give in people to do those things, the better off we are as a community.