- In Uvalde’s first mayoral race since the Robb Elementary School shooting, former mayor Cody Smith won back the job Tuesday over Kimberly Mata-Rubio, a mother who has led calls for tougher gun laws since her daughter was among the 19 children killed in the 2022 attack.
- The race tested the mood of the South Texas town more than a year after one of America’s deadliest mass shootings and a botched police response that remains under criminal investigation.
- Mata-Rubio, who pressed Uvalde leaders for answers and transparency after the shooting, campaigned on unifying the small town that is still riven with division. Her candidacy put on the ballot one of Uvalde’s most outspoken figures and an aggressive proponent of stricter gun laws.
Trending
Uvalde Elects Former Mayor, Rejects Anti-Gun Mom Whose Child Was Killed In Massacre
FILE - Reggie Daniels pays his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on June 9, 2022, honoring the two teachers and 19 students killed in the shooting at the school on May 24. For families fractured along red house-blue house lines, summer’s slate of reunions and weddings poses another round of tension. Pandemic restrictions have melted away but gun control, the fight for reproductive rights, the Jan. 6 insurrection hearings, who's to blame for soaring inflation and a range of other issues continue to simmer. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
