Soon to be Stanford Graduate Plans to Join Politics

By The Record
February 16, 2012 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - Michael Tubbs has long known what he wanted.

In 2007, as a Franklin High School senior, he said he wanted to be president.

In 2010, enrolled at Stanford University, Tubbs, a Democrat, said he wanted someday to be mayor of Stockton. He was standing on the steps of City Hall at the time.

On Monday, Tubbs will formally announce his first political step: his candidacy for the District 6 seat on the Stockton City Council.

He is 21 years old and will be running this year against incumbent Dale Fritchen.

Tubbs will launch his campaign at 11 a.m. in a two-hour kickoff event - complete with spoken-word poetry and music by local bands - at the Van Buskirk Community Center, 734 Houston Ave.

Tubbs is expected to graduate from Stanford in the spring with undergraduate and master's degrees.

Tubbs, born to an incarcerated father and a teenage mother, is no stranger to leadership - and his life story has been retold several times.

He won a Northern California student essay contest sponsored by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker in 2007. The topic was "How I changed my own life."

Tubbs' 500-word essay focused on his first meeting with his father, his mother's struggles because of a lack of education and his own determination to succeed.

He was Franklin High's student council president when he won the essay competition and had a 4.4 grade-point average in the International Baccalaureate program.

While enrolled at Stanford, Tubbs served as a White House intern; studied in Cape Town, South Africa; and delivered the Freshmen Convocation speech in the fall.

Tubbs has been active on several Stockton boards and commissions. He helped start the Summer Success and Leadership Academy at University of the Pacific, and he founded The Phoenix Scholars, a statewide organization that helps high school students enter college.
The primary election is June 5, and the general election is Nov. 6.