Lourin Hubbard could represent a region that hasn’t been accurately represented by politicians in nearly 20 years.

With the top-two primary special election for California’s 22nd Congressional District seat taking place on Tuesday, April 5, voters in the district now have the opportunity to elect someone who will fight for their interests.

This special election comes after Devin Nunes, who represented parts of the Central Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives since he first assumed office in 2003, resigned at the end of 2021 to take a role as CEO of former president Donald Trump’s new media company.

The winner of this special election will fill Nunes’ seat until the end of what was his current House term, which is set to end on January 3, 2023.

By filling Nunes’ seat in the House of Representatives, Democrat Lourin Hubbard could prove to be the representation that District 22 needs.

Hubbard grew up in the Central Valley with a single mother who was forced to work long days and rely on food stamps to provide for her children. After receiving a degree in Political Science from Fresno State, Hubbard entered the workforce for a career in public service.

Hubbard worked at the Fresno County Department of Social Services, connecting community members with resources through government assistance and local programs. Currently, Hubbard is the Operations Manager at the California Department of Water Resources, supporting local communities through the constant water crises occurring in the Central Valley.

A self proclaimed “bad democrat”, Hubbard decided to run for office last year during a conversation with his friends.

“This campaign started as six of my friends at our kitchen table talking about everything that was going on after the [January 6] insurrection, all the stuff that was going on at the time, how we could change it, how we could be involved,” Hubbard said. “Emails that we were sending out to our current representatives didn’t seem to get a whole lot of traction so we came up with the idea of ‘why don’t we just run ourselves?’”

When Hubbard originally announced his intention to run for office in June of 2021, it was to run against Nunes.

For Hubbard, it wasn’t good enough that voters were consistently being presented with politicians who did not run on a platform that would meet residents’ needs. Specifically in District 22, voters have consistently only been given two options: Devin Nunes, or anyone who dared to run against Nunes.

“I heard on KMJ back in December when Nunes was leaving that he was very proud that he brought the Valley’s issues to national attention. I was thinking, he did that in 18 years. I can do that in 18 minutes,” stated Hubbard.

Voting for someone on account of them not being Nunes was not enough. Hubbard, like many voters, wanted to know what the other politicians’ platforms and policies they supported were, and what they would do to help improve the lives of their constituents in the Central Valley.

Sick of this, Hubbard announced that he would be running for office.

“The problems that we have now are the same problems we had 30 years ago,” said Hubbard. “What’s going on with that? Especially when you look at a recent situation, with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Devin Nunes was still our representative and voted no on it. Come to find out, California is now getting 600 million dollars to tackle water infrastructure here. So you’re going to say the guy that was working for you voted no on all this money coming our way?”

Even with the change of Nunes no longer running for his representative position, Hubbard’s campaign has not changed much.

A large issue that Hubbard continues to bring to light is the various water problems Central Valley residents face, whether that is not having access to any water or their water being contaminated. Although these issues have occurred in the region for decades, many outside of the Valley are unaware of their severity.

“There are communities that are in these pockets of agriculture, still being charged by water companies, but can’t use the water coming out of their faucets… That’s one of the things that I’ve been talking about in this campaign, raising these issues on a national level,” Hubbard said. “Flint, Michigan was brought to national attention in 2016, and we have four or five Flint, Michigans just in this district. That should be on the nightly news.”

Hubbard has also consistently expressed his support for policies that would grant student loan debt forgiveness, access to quality healthcare, and help family farms stay afloat amid competition from “Big Ag.” More on Hubbard’s platform can be found here.

Although outspokenly progressive, Hubbard’s platform surpasses party lines.

“I’m working to help people. Being elected to Congress is only going to broaden the mechanism for which I can do that. I think that’s one of the reasons I reluctantly decided to do this. If I didn’t think I’d be able to help people, I would not be doing this,” Hubbard stated.

In the 2020 election for this Congressional seat, Democrat Phil Arballo came close to unseating Nunes. Although Nunes won with 54.2% of votes, Arballo was close behind, winning 45.8% of votes.

That election proved what plenty of District 22 residents already knew: Nunes was not working to help the people of his district, and many were ready to see him go.

In the last few years of his role as House Representative, Nunes received flak on a national level for being viewed as a lapdog for President Trump, even when it directly went against what was in the best interests of his district.

With his resignation, Nunes elected to see himself out instead of facing the possibility that his constituents of nearly 20 years may vote him out.

Now, a new face must take the Congressional seat. This is providing District 22 voters with the opportunity to elect a representative who will truly represent the needs of the Central Valley.

If elected, Lourin Hubbard will represent and fight for those needs.

“People are the focus of the campaign, and they will be the focus of what’s happening in office,” Hubbard said.

The nonpartisan primary election is being held on Tuesday, April 5. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in this election, a runoff election will occur on June 7.

Voters can choose to vote in person from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 5, mail ballots back, or drop them off at a designated ballot box or voting center. More voting information can be found here.

Even if Hubbard does not win this election, he hopes that Central Valley residents will continue fighting for the change they want to see.

Hubbard stated, “I hope that you vote for what you want. Use your voice to highlight what you want to see… I think it’s okay for people to be a little bit selfish and vote for what you want to see. My information is public, I would love to hear some of the other concerns that people have. Let’s build something. Even if we’re unsuccessful in this election, I hope you see that regular people can be and do more.”