Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi, was among the 21 people killed in last year’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, announced on July 20 her intentions to run for mayor of the Southwest Texas city of more than 15,000 people, dedicating her run to the late fourth-grader.
Mata-Rubio took to Twitter last week to announce her candidacy to be Uvalde’s mayor and spoke directly about her daughter.
“I grieve for the woman you would have become and all the difference you would have made in this world,” the 34-year-old Mata-Rubio said in tweet posted Thursday. “I grieve for the woman I was when you were still here. But, one part of me still exist[s], I am still your mom. I will honor your life with action. This is only the beginning.”
Mata-Rubio’s tweet included a screenshot of an article about her mayoral bid published by her employer, Uvalde Leader News.
Mata-Rubio holds a bachelor’s degree in public history from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and is a 2007 graduate of Uvalde High School, according to Uvalde Leader News.
San Antonio CBS affiliate Channel 5 reported that Mata-Rubio is running to succeed incumbent Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin. McLaughlin has already announced he is leaving office to run for a state level seat.
Channel 5 reported that the May 24, 2022 tragedy thrust Mata-Rubio into a role as a gun reform activist.
If elected mayor, Mata-Rubio seeks to unite a community that stood together in the wake of the shooting but has become divided ever since, National Public Radio reported the same day as the mayoral hopeful’s tweet.
“There are some residents who just want to move on and keep everything under the rug, and those of us who want to move forward, but take the children and the two teachers with us,” Mata-Rubio said in NPR’s report. “And I think that there just need to be open lines of communication, and that is possible, so I want the right leadership in place.”
Texas Monthly reported that Mata-Rubio’s opponent is a familiar face in Uvalde municipal government, Cody Smith, a senior vice president at First State Bank of Uvalde. Smith served on the city council from 1994 to 2008 and as mayor from 2008 to 2012.
