UVALDE, Texas — Kimberly Mata-Rubio, mother of Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio who was killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting last year in Uvalde, Texas, announced Thursday she is running for mayor in a special election.
Mata-Rubio is running for mayor after Don McLaughlin announced he is stepping down to run for a House seat in Texas, ABC News reported.
“I want to represent the underserved in this community, whose voices matter but have long been unheard,” Mata-Rubio, 34, said, according to the Uvalde Leader-News. “I want residents to see themselves in me and feel at ease sharing their grievances.”
Mata-Rubio’s daughter was one of 19 students and two teachers who were killed on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School when a gunman entered their classrooms, according to ABC News.
I grieve for the woman you would have become and all the difference you would have made in this world. I grieve for the woman I was when you were still here. But, one part of me still exist, I am still your mom. I will honor your life with action. This is only the beginning💛 pic.twitter.com/s3rknjwsCC
— Kimberly Mata-Rubio (@kimrubio21) July 27, 2023
“I grieve for the woman you would have become and all the difference you would have made in this world. I grieve for the woman I was when you were still here. But, one part of me still exist, I am still your mom. I will honor your life with action,” Mata-Rubio said on Twitter Thursday. “This is only the beginning.”
Since the shooting, Mata-Rubio has been demanding answers from officials as many others have in the community and around the nation. According to CNN, she has become a gun violence advocate calling for a ban on assault rifles.
“We don’t want you to think of Lexi as just a number,” she said at a House hearing on Capitol Hill on gun violence in June 2022, according to CNN. “She was intelligent, compassionate and athletic. She was quiet, shy — unless she had a point to make. When she knew she was right, as she so often was, she stood her ground. She was firm, direct, voice unwavering.”
Former Uvalde Mayor Cody Smith is also looking to run again, the Uvalde Leader-News reported, according to CNN.
“It would be easy to run from the issues that plague our town, but I have decided to remain in Uvalde and be part of the change that is long overdue,” Mata-Rubio told the Uvalde Leader-News, according to the Today Show. “Our town has become stagnant. Our leadership became comfortable, which led to the events that unfolded on May 24, 2022.
Candidates have until September 6 to file for the special election in Uvalde. The Uvalde city secretary, Sorayda Sanchez, told CNN she has not received any applications as of Thursday afternoon.
The election is expected to take place in November, the Uvalde Leader-News reported.
