VOTERS ELECT MAYORS FOR A GUARANTEED INCOME MEMBERS AND APPROVE BALLOT MEASURES FOR UNCONDITIONAL CASH ASSISTANCE

Members of Mayors and Counties for a Guaranteed Income win statewide elections in California, Georgia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, while ballot measures approved in Maryland and Washington

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Five former members of the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income coalition won elections for higher office yesterday, from county executive to Congress to governor. Voters also approved multiple ballot initiatives relating to direct cash programs across the United States.

Members of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) and its sister organization Counties for a Guaranteed Income (CGI) won races in California, Georgia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

• MGI founding member and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will become Governor of Georgia.
• MGI member and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti will become a member of Congress from Pennsylvania's 8th District.
• MGI member and former Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss will become a member of Congress from Illinois' 9th District.
• CGI member and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller will become a member of Congress from Illinois' 2nd District.
• CGI founding member and Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando will become Montgomery County Executive.

Voters also approved ballot initiatives related to unconditional cash assistance in the city of Baltimore as well as Washington state.

• Baltimore voters voted to create the Baltimore Baby Fund, a guaranteed income program for pregnant women and infants. MGI Co-Chair and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott championed the proposal as an extension of his efforts to boost stability for young families through programs like the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund.
• Washington State voters resoundingly rejected ballot initiative 645, which would have repealed the "Millionaire's Tax" passed in 2025. Championed by founding LGI member and State Senator T'wina Nobles, funds from the Millionaire's Tax are being used in part to expand the Working Families Tax Credit to an additional 460,000 families in Washington.

MGI founder and former Mayor of Stockton, Michael D. Tubbs said, "This election proved that affordability was the top issue on voters' minds. Hundreds of guaranteed income pilots have proven that unconditional cash meets today's affordability crisis head-on by increasing the purchasing power of households and, most importantly, it trusts people to know what they need. MGI and CGI members like Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, Congresswoman-elect Paige Cognetti, Congressman-elect Daniel Biss, Congresswoman-elect Donna Miller, and County Executive-elect Will Jawando have been leaders in implementing this policy solution and boosting the financial stability of families."

Founded in June of 2020 by former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income is a coalition of nearly 180 mayors committed to advancing a federal guaranteed income – direct, recurring cash payments to middle and low-income people. Expanding to include city and county legislators in 2023 with Counties for a Guaranteed Income, and state legislators with Legislators for a Guaranteed Income in 2025, the network acts as a research and resource hub for municipal pilots around the country–over 70 and counting. An award-winning documentary film, It's Basic, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023, follows recipients and illuminates the life-changing impact of guaranteed income programs on families' economic security and opportunity.

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SOURCE Mayors for a Guaranteed Income