Just over a year ago, Kimberly Mata-Rubio lost her 10-year-old daughter, Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Now, in honor of her daughter’s legacy, Mata-Rubio said she is launching a bid to become Uvalde’s next mayor.
A special election for a one-year term to fill the seat will take place in November, prompted by the resignation of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who announced he would step down and run for a Texas House seat. McLaughlin had most recently been reelected to a four-year mayoral term in 2020.
Although she had reservations about joining the race, Mata-Rubio, 34, said it was her husband, Felix Rubio, who eased her doubts.
“I spoke to my husband, and he told me, ‘You’re Lexi’s mom. You can do this.’ I had no doubt after that conversation,” Mata-Rubio said. “Navigating our political system has been frustrating, and I realized I needed to be the change I seek.”
Mata-Rubio, a lifelong Uvalde resident and advertising executive at the Uvalde Leader-News, is a mother of five children and one stepchild. She graduated from St. Mary’s University in December of 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in public history and previously worked as a journalist for the Leader-News.
After the Robb Elementary School shooting on May 24, 2022, when a teenager killed 19 children and two teachers, Mata-Rubio became an advocate for stronger gun-control laws. Just weeks after the shooting, Mata-Rubio and her husband testified via video call as part of the first hearing where members of Congress heard direct testimony from a survivor of the shooting as well as the parents of a victim of the massacre.
In her testimony, Mata-Rubio called for a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, as well as other gun restrictions, telling Congress: “We do not want you to think of Lexi as just a number. 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. So, today, we stand for Lexi, and, as her voice, we demand action.
“Somewhere out there, a mom is hearing our testimony and thinking to herself, ‘I can’t even imagine their pain,’ not knowing that our reality will one day be hers, unless we act now,” she added.
Alexandria Rubio’s cross stands at a memorial site for the victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in June 2022. Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press
According to her candidacy announcement in the Uvalde Leader-News, if elected, Mata-Rubio would be the first woman and third Hispanic mayor of the city. She would be the fifth woman to serve on the city council. The town of about 15,000 people is part of a county that the 2022 Census estimates is more than 70% Hispanic or Latino.
Individuals seeking to run for mayor have until September to file their papers. Former Uvalde mayor Cody L. Smith also has announced his candidacy.
In November 2022, months after the mass shooting, the county resoundingly supported Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s, R, reelection. Mata-Rubio had volunteered to campaign door-to-door for Abbott’s challenger, former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke, D. And many of the families in Uvalde who lost someone in the Robb Elementary School shooting backed Democratic candidates, but the city and county have generally remained Republican. Sixty% of the county voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
There has been a wave of political candidates motivated by efforts to stop gun violence.
Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety, launched the Demand a Seat program in 2021 to train volunteers and gun-violence survivors to run for office or work on campaigns. In the 2021-2022 campaign cycle, 275 individuals ran for office. Some 160 volunteers were elected to positions across 30 states, according to the organization.
Mata-Rubio said she is hoping to bridge the gap with her platform and engage residents who do not typically vote.
“Every voice deserves to be heard. I think common ground is a desire to move forward and not be remembered for just this tragedy,” Mata-Rubio said. “A lack of communication has contributed to the false narrative that the families of the 21 (victims of the Robb Elementary shooting) don’t have a desire to move forward – we do. We just want to bring our loved ones along with us. We want to move forward while still honoring their memory.”
Mata-Rubio said she wants to establish permanent, preserved memorials in downtown Uvalde and “ensure small town businesses are flourishing.”
“I want to open lines of communication between the city and other entities to make sure we are serving our residents to the best of our ability. We shouldn’t be in contact with these entities only when an issue arises. We should be in contact regularly, working together,” she added.
After announcing her candidacy, Mata-Rubio said she has heard from the families of the 21 victims in Uvalde as well as Arnulfo Reyes, Lexi’s fourth-grade teacher, who survived the shooting.
“To me, the most important people I heard from were the families of the 21 and Mr. Reyes,” she said. “Having their support is important to me.”
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