A Republican candidate for a competitive state House seat in San Antonio apologized this week for “crude and immature jokes” after his years-old social media posts including a variation of the N-word and mentions of cocaine usage resurfaced.
“They were not admissions nor descriptions of actions I had taken,” GOP nominee for House District 118 Jorge Borrego said in a statement. “I regret the language I used then and apologize to anyone it hurt.”
Borrego is facing a competitive race for the San Antonio seat against Democratic political strategist Kristian Carranza. The seat is being vacated by Republican state Rep. John Lujan, who was making a bid for the U.S. House.
Screenshots of Borrego’s old X posts, ranging from 2011 to 2015, were first shared by the right-wing outlet Current Revolt’s publisher Tony Ortiz earlier this week. In them, Borrego repeatedly used crude sexual language and mentioned cocaine usage.
Borrego described the posts as “dark humor” that he used to cope with traumas, like growing up in an environment where drug and alcohol abuse were common.
“That context explains the jokes, but it does not excuse them,” Borrego said. “I have grown and matured, and those posts do not reflect the husband, father, or public servant I am today.”
Carranza said she was “disgusted” by the “more than 150 lewd, racist and perverse tweets,” and shared additional screenshots that include a derogatory remark about Asian people and a fake quote attributed to Adolf Hitler.
“It’s clear that this man is unfit and unable to serve in a position of trust,” Carranza said in a statement. “Texas deserves sober and serious leadership to lower costs and fix our broken system.”
The controversy comes as both parties have sought to capitalize off candidates’ digital footprints going into the November election.
In Texas’ 23rd congressional district, for example, Democratic-aligned social media accounts have been sharing old comments made by GOP candidate and YouTuber Brandon Herrera in which he used lewd language to describe mothers who oppose his politics. Herrera has stood by the posts, and said they’re from when before he ever intended to run for political office.
Tejano musician and Democratic candidate Bobby Pulido also apologized for past social media comments where he used homophobic and sexist Spanish-language slurs.