Woman whose daughter was killed in Uvalde mass shooting loses mayoral bid

UVALDE, Texas — A woman whose daughter was killed in last year’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School lost her bid to become mayor of Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday.

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Kimberly Mata-Rubio, 34, pushed for tougher gun laws after her 10-year-old daughter, Alexandra “Lexi” Rubio, was one of 19 children killed at Robb Elementary when a gunman opened fire on May 24, 2022, The Associated Press reported. Two teachers were also killed in the mass shooting.

Mata-Rubio lost in a three-way race to become the first woman mayor of the southern Texas town. Cody Smith, the town’s former mayor, returns to the office, according to The New York Times. His platform called for honoring the victims of the shooting and for moving the city forward, according to the newspaper.

Smith will take office on Nov. 14, the Times reported.

“I’ll never stop fighting for you, Lexi,” Mata-Rubio posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I meant it when I said this was only the beginning. After all, I’m not a regular mom. I’m Lexi’s mom.”

The third candidate in the race was Victoria Martinez, an art teacher, KSAT-TV reported.

Smith served as Uvalde’s mayor more than a decade ago, according to the AP. His last term ended in 2012.

Smith, a senior vice president at First State Bank of Uvalde, was first elected to the City Council in 1994, and then as mayor in 2008 and in 2010, according to the Times.

The special election was called after Uvalde’s current mayor, Don McLaughlin, announced that he was running for a seat in the Texas House, according to the newspaper.

Smith’s term will run for a full year. An election will be held next year to elect a mayor to a full four-year term, the Times reported.

Mata-Rubio has testified before Congress in support of new gun restrictions and has condemned the slow police response on the day of the shooting at the school, according to the AP. She also helped launch “Lives Robbed,” a nonprofit that advocates stricter gun laws.