Kimberly Mata-Rubio's 10-year-old daughter was one of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the May 24, 2022, shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
On a sticky Texas morning, Kimberly Mata-Rubio is lacing up her running shoes ahead of two races she is running in Uvalde in tribute to her daughter Lexi, who was killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting.
First up is a charity run honoring Lexi’s life. Then it’s back to a tougher contest: Campaigning to become mayor of Uvalde, a town still divided after one of America’s deadliest mass shootings and a botched police response that is still under investigation.
“One thing I hear with all of my children, and it echoes my own belief, is that right now Lexi’s legacy is our priority and we just want to honor her with action,” Mata-Rubio said.
Reminder that the Uvalde police wanted this covered up so badly they threatened a local mother with violation of her probation if she continued to speak out about it.
Uvalde overwhelmingly re-elected the same politicians, judges and sheriffs that led to the shooting and lack of response. Uvalde also voted strongly for Abbott.
That's when my last shred of sympathy for that community evaporated. If they don't care about their own children being killed, why should I? Clearly they want this to continue happening.
Consider that sometimes there are more voters who are unaffected by the people and policies they vote for, than voters who are affected.
I imagine in the case of Uvalde, there are more grumpy senior citizens who don't give a shit about the lives of children than there are parents of school age children -- or at least more voters in the former category than the latter.
Don't forget that voter suppression exists, too. Just because the same shit heels got voted back in doesn't mean that the people who were most hurt didn't try to do something about it. Don't give up your sympathy because of what it looks like to you at a distance.
i've learned first hand that not even the liberals in austin give a rats ass about voter suppression in texas; so she must be doing this for herself because she's not going to have an impact in uvalde and much less for the rest of the state.
I didn't kill their kids, I didn't stand around refusing to help, and I didn't re-elect cowards who let kids die... Uvalde did though. So as bad and callous as my opinion sounds, it's not as bad as what they did to themselves
No doubt, I don't understand Texas politics. I consider what shithouse fucked up stuff lead to the Alamo and how dearly they hold onto it's legacy... I think it's all I probably need to know.
Then it’s back to a tougher contest: Campaigning to become mayor of Uvalde, a town still divided after one of America’s deadliest mass shootings and a botched police response that is still under investigation.
For Mata-Rubio, who would become Uvalde’s first female mayor, part of the challenge in her campaign is convincing the small town of 15,000 people to choose a new direction.
Months later, the Texas Legislature brushed off calls by Mata-Rubio and other Uvalde parents to raise the minimum purchase age for some firearms — which, they say, could have prevented the tragic shooting.
The shooting upended her previous life as a soft-spoken reporter at the Uvalde Leader-News who was content with small-town living alongside her six children and husband, a local sheriff’s deputy.
“Her candidacy may have a little bit more movement because she knows the people in that town and she understands the hurt that this event caused,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
“I am never stopping as her mom, as an advocate, but as running for mayor my main focus is bringing the community back together because we cannot move forward, we cannot see progress until we are on the same page,” Mata-Rubio said.
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