California Candidate Lourin Hubbard Issues Apology for Controversial Reddit Posts Amid Election Campaign

A congressional candidate from California has recently come under fire for controversial Reddit comments that have resurfaced. These posts included remarks about women’s appearances and references to “Fresno Freaks.”

Lourin Hubbard, a progressive union activist aiming to replace Democratic Representative Jim Costa, was found to have made inappropriate comments and engaged in derogatory exchanges with other Reddit users. Notably, these interactions were conducted through the same account he used to announce his congressional run, as revealed by screenshots obtained by The Post.

In a statement emailed to The Post, Hubbard expressed regret, saying, “The posts in question were adult in nature and involved commentary about other consenting adults. While they were made in the past and do not reflect my life today, I understand how some people could view them as objectifying or inappropriate. For that, I sincerely apologize.”

Hubbard, who is campaigning for California’s 21st congressional district, which includes parts of Tulare and Fresno counties, stated he has grown since the time he authored those explicit posts under the username LoHubb56.

In 2021, in response to a now-deleted post about a “Thick Fresno Wife,” Hubbard commented, “Such a big a–! Fresno freaks in the house.”

He also remarked, “Great a–! Side note there’s a lot of nurses on Reddit…” on the NSFW forum Work Gone Wild.

In other posts, which were made between five and eight years ago before the horny account was deactivated, Hubbard drools over women’s “mommy cleavage” and “Phat a– white girls.”

Hubbard was a regular on the popular Roast Me forum, where individuals ask users to poke fun at them.

“You look like you were in Parkland and instead of pulling out his AR-15 that Cruz kid shot you with ugly bullets instead,” he wrote, referencing the 2018 mass shooting that killed 17 students and staff at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Another old post used the R-word for intellectually disabled people.

Hubbard told The Post that a political opponent had “threatened” him with the old posts and he considered dropping out of the congressional race.

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“I was only running because I’d felt so hopeless and frustrated with both Trump and the Democrats that I didn’t know what else to do. But being threatened has had the opposite effect,” Hubbard insisted.

California’s 21st congressional district, an agriculture-heavy swath of the San Joaquin Valley, is affected by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Prop. 50, which triggered a mid-decade redistricting intended to give Democrats an edge in the midterm elections.

The district is considered Democratic-leaning, according to Cook Political Report, after Prop. 50 shuffled some conservative pockets out of the district.

Other candidates include Republicans Kyle Kirkland and Lorenzo Rios.

Costa, who has served about 21 years in the House of Representatives, pleaded no contest to soliciting a prostitute in 1986 when he was a state assemblyman, Hubbard noted.

Hubbard’s campaign priorities include Medicare for all, affordable child care, education and “building a green economy.”

“The Valley needs new representation, and a bold commitment to progressive change, if we’re going to secure that future of opportunity and freedom for our children,” Hubbard writes on his campaign website.

This is Hubbard’s second run for the House of Representatives, having placed second in a 2022 special election for CA-22 after former Rep. Devin Nunes resigned.

He announced his run for that seat on Reddit, declaring that he “decided to be the change.”