Kimberly Mata-Rubio and Alexandra “Lexi” Rubio.Photo:Ana Coronado; Courtesy Felix Rubio
Ana Coronado; Courtesy Felix Rubio
Kimberly Mata-Rubio, who lost her daughterAlexandria “Lexi” Rubioin the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has announced that she is running for mayor of the small city this fall.
According to theUvalde Leader-News,the 34-year-old mother of five and longtime Uvalde resident plans to run for the mayoral seat in the Nov. 7 special election.
“I want to represent the underserved in this community, whose voices matter but have long been unheard,” Mata-Rubio told the outlet, where she also works as an advertising executive. “I want residents to see themselves in me and feel at ease sharing their grievances.”
Mata-Rubio is an award-winning journalist for the outlet and graduate of St. Mary’s University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public history.
Mata-Rubio had just left a ceremony honoring Lexi as well as son, Julian, before a gunman stormed the school and murdered 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022. Lexi, 10, was among the dead.
On July 27, Mata-Rubio mentioned her late daughter in a post announcing her candidacyon Twitter (now known as X).
“I grieve for the woman you would have become and all the difference you would have made in this world,” she wrote. “I grieve for the woman I was when you were still here.”
“But, one part of me still exist, I am still your mom,” she continued. “I will honor your life with action. This is only the beginning.”
Since her daughter’s death, Mata-Rubio has marched in rallies and worked with elected officials for gun violence prevention.
“I don’t want Lexi to just be remembered for this tragedy, so I want to share who she was,” she told PEOPLE in May. “I think honoring her life with action is the greatest way to do that. And I think that had Lexi grown up and had the opportunity to grow up, that she would’ve made a difference in this world. So I’m hoping that she still can, through me.”
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Mata-Rubio previously said her grief has inspired her to take action to try to prevent further mass shootings.
“I want children to have a chance to grow up,” she told PEOPLE. “I want moms and dads to be able to keep their babies. I don’t want them to feel what I’m feeling. It’s too much.”
The only other candidate to announce is Cody Smith, a senior vice president at the First State Bank of Uvalde, according toABC News.He was Uvalde’s mayor from 2008 to 2012 and held a position in city council from 1995 to 2008.
If elected, Mata-Rubio will become the first woman and third Hispanic mayor in Uvalde history, per theLeader-News.
source: people.com
