Grieving Uvalde Mom Honors Daughter...She's Running For Mayor...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

UVALDE, Texas | She had to do it. It's what you do to preserve the memory of your child and to somehow believe that tomorrow will always be a better day. Kimberly Mata-Rubio is running for mayor of this still-mourning town, a little more than a year after her daughter was one of 19 kids murdered at Robb Elementary School.

This excerpt from a story published by the Los Angeles Times: [ Since the murder of her daughter Lexi on May 24, 2022, Mata-Rubio has dedicated herself to activism. She and her husband, Felix - a former sheriff’s deputy who was restrained and prevented from entering the school when he arrived at the scene that day - have navigated their loss in part by joining the other families and loved ones of the 21 victims (two teachers, too) in the fight for gun reform.

She’s kept herself busy traveling to Washington, D.C., to march for her daughter, meet with lawmakers and testify before Congress. Her life has become a complex mix of grief and hope, and each new milestone reminds her that this isn’t what she thought her life would be. She’s traveled out of state more in the last year than she ever has, but now, she’s turning her focus back home.

Late last month, Mata-Rubio announced her campaign for mayor of Uvalde.

"I think a lot of people attribute everything to strength, but I don’t necessarily think I’m a strong person," she says. "I just think that I’m a determined person. And I am determined to make sure that this world remembers Lexi. I’m honoring her with action so that when you hear her name, you think of all the change that’s coming." ]

Don McLaughlin, the old mayor, is leaving the post and has said he will seek a state representative's post.

How do you cope? Much has and hasn't happened in tiny, dusty Uvalde since that bloody day in May of last year. Texas officials have reviewed the actions (really, inactions) of law enforcement that responded to the scene in the minutes after the school alerted authorities of a gunman in the hallways.

The chief of security for the school district resigned, ran for the city council and won, but then resigned under intense pressure from the community. He was blamed for the inaction at the scene. It was a fast-react squad from the U.S. Border Patrol that eventual confronted and killed the gunman. DPS state troopers also were faulted for not entering the school as the crack of gunfire cut through the school building.

Mrs. Mata-Rubio has likely tired of asking questions about why and how this could happen.

She's no doubt comforted and inspired by the belief that her daughter would happily endorse her campaign for mayor.

The election is in November...

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