Fresno State alumnus Lourin Hubbard reflected on how his time at the university shaped the person he is today and how he perceived the political world around him.

He remembered attending a campus debate between two professors about remembering 9/11, with both representing opposite political ideologies. Hubbard said it was an “awesome experience” because it helped reinforce his own beliefs while introducing new points of view.

He said it was one experience out of many he cherishes from the university, along with being part of a fraternity, living in the dorms and making the friends he’d still have today, Hubbard said.

“It was fantastic. It was kind of like the college experience that you want not only for yourself but for your kids,” Hubbard said.

He earned his bachelor’s in political science in 2013. Now, he is one of two Democrats in an upcoming special election for California’s 22nd Congressional District 

After former U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes officially resigned on Jan. 1, ending his 20-year long incumbency, a special primary election was announced in order to fill the vacant spot.

The secretary of state’s office released the special election calendar on its website. Voting polls open on April 5 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters can either send their vote by mail or hand-deliver it to any voting center, polling location, dropboxes at county elections offices or any ballot dropoff location. 

The winning candidate of the special election will fill Nunes’ vacant position until the general elections in November. If no candidate receives more than 50% of votes, another election will be held on June 7. 

The official list of certified candidates will be released to county election offices on Feb. 16, according to the secretary of state’s website. Republicans Matt Stoll, Michael Maher, Connie Conway and Elizabeth Heng have previously announced their candidacy in the special election — Republican Nathan Magsis took his name off the ballot. Eric Garcia is now one of two Democrats running after Phil Arballo withdrew from the race. 

Hubbard, a Bakersfield native, said his career shift into politics came from a “come-to-Jesus moment” in his junior year at Fresno State in 2011.

“My mom passed away in my junior year, and she lived in Bakersfield while I was up here at [Fresno State]. That semester was probably the hardest semester ever,” Hubbard said. 

He said his younger sister, Shannon was still in Bakersfield at the time, so he drove back-and-forth from Fresno State. They were left in a situation where they worried about how they were going to pay for certain things. 

Hubbard said their mother raised them single-handedly but struggled financially, working long hours and relying on food stamps.

After her passing, mail addressed to his mother was delivered to Hubbard’s house, he noted.

“That was a bill for her health care, and I was sad and angry all at the same time,” Hubbard said. “Even though she was working, she had a job; she had health care with that job, her prescriptions weren’t covered… She couldn’t afford the medicine that was going to keep her alive.”

Hubbard also noted that his mother graduated junior college and was valedictorian of her class, but still went through major obstacles to make livable wages.

After that moment, he changed his major from kinesiology to political science. Although he didn’t know it would lead to him running for Congress, he knew he wanted to make a difference. 

One of the main platforms in Hubbard’s campaign run is for everyone to have affordable health coverage and access to the highest quality health care. He said whether it’s stories like his mother’s or someone similar, legislation should be passed to make life-saving, prescription drugs/treatments affordable, eliminate all medical debt and address maternal health care.

“If you don’t work here in America, it’s almost like you don’t deserve to have health insurance. You don’t deserve to live… That’s really the message that our current health care system is sending us,” Hubbard said.

“When I’m talking to folks, it doesn’t matter whether they’re Republicans, Democrats, Independents, we all kind of have that health care story.”

Hubbard also reflected on the time he got injured playing Fresno State intramural basketball. He said he fractured his fibula, but when he first tried to get checked at St. Agnes Medical Center, it charged him $3,200 for an ACE bandage wrap. It wouldn’t be until later that he got treated when he went to the Fresno State Health Center.

After one early morning at Fresno State, Hubbard remembered a friend telling him about food being served on-campus, and when he saw a girl serving spaghetti to other students, he didn’t even eat the food but rather talked to her. 

A couple of years later, that same student would be his wife, Erin. 

Erin also graduated from the university with a bachelor’s in school nursing. Erin and Lourin would have two daughters, a 5-year-old named Riley and a 2-year old named Casey. 

He said his wife plays a huge part in keeping his mind sharp as they have had political debates with each other since the day they met. Growing up in the Central Valley, Hubbard said he is grateful for experiencing different people’s beliefs and points of view in a “conservative-minded” area.

It has prepared him to understand people better and fully advocate for the people in his district as he runs in the special election, Hubbard said. 

When asked about any added pressures or obstacles running as a Democrat, he said his “progressive” political beliefs are more common in the area than people think.

“A lot of people all over the country think that, because Devin Nunes won, that we are all this like conservative, Trump-town area, and that’s not the case… The mentality of, like, I have to talk a little Republican in order to get people to vote for me, is not true,” Hubbard said.

Rather than getting votes just because he’s a Democrat, Hubbard said that people just want someone who is “genuine.” 

“I’m asking them to vote for me as a person who happens to be Democrat, and I think when we look at relationships through those lenses, we’re going to have a more united country,” Hubbard said.

When he first started filing the paperwork for his candidacy, Hubbard said he was shocked to learn that he was still registered as a Republican voter since he was 18. Growing up in Bakersfield, he said he was raised with some of the conservative values and believed the government’s role to be the “referee,”  making an even, fair playing field.

Hubbard said he was a “weird kid” who liked watching the news with his grandmother and mother as much as he liked watching cartoons. 

He thinks of it as a joke to himself now because he remembered when he voted, the first person he voted for was Rudy Giuliani during his ‘08 presidential campaign. He said he remembered the time he was portrayed as “America’s Mayor” and Times Person of the Year.

But as times progressed and Hubbard started learning more about the world, he said the political party he originally stood behind no longer portrayed the “fair playing field” and “equal opportunity” he believes in. That is another reason he feels he must run for Congress, Hubbard said.

“I just got tired of waiting for someone else to come around and talk about the issues that I think are important,” Hubbard said.

“My mom had a saying, ‘If you don’t have a seat at the table, usually it’s because you’re on the menu.’ So if we don’t get engaged… a lot of the stuff we want doesn’t get discussed.”

Hubbard protested alongside Fresno State students during Fresno’s Black Lives Matter march as well as protesting against the selling of the Tower District Theatre. He said his family has a history with these issues. 

He said his great-grandfather, Shirley Hill, fought in World War II. His grandmother, who inherited the same name, had lumps in her head fighting for the civil rights movement and now, he feels the same issues are still being fought. So that’s why he said his message to Fresno State students as an alumnus is to be more engaged.

“We have to be aware of the reality of the time,” Hubbard said.

“[They’re] people who are tired of ‘no.’ Who want to see something better and want to do something better. And to me, that’s young people.”