Greg Abbott won the race to remain governor five months after the worst school shooting in Texas.
The families of the victims of the attack expressed their disappointment at his victory.
"Unfortunately, 21 people dead doesn't change people's minds," a relative told the Texas Tribune.
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Just five months after the Robb Elementary School school shooting in Uvalde, the worst school shooting in Texas history, the pro-gun Gov. Greg Abbott won the race to keep his post by a landslide.
Critics slammed Abbott following the shooting on May 24, criticizing the governor for blaming the shooting — which killed 19 children — on gang violence and mental-health concerns of the shooter.
Beto O'Rourke, who challenged Abbott in the race, ran on a mandate to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle. Many of the families directly impacted by the shooting hoped he'd be the next governor of Texas.
He'd previously accused Abbott of inaction following the Uvalde shooting, saying, "You are doing nothing. You are offering us nothing. You said this was not predictable. This is totally predictable when you choose not to do anything."
Indeed, in June 2021, Abbott signed a law allowing people to carry handguns without licenses.
"Texas will always be the leader in defending the Second Amendment, which is why we built a barrier around gun rights this session," he said at the time.
The families sat at a Uvalde bar and grill on election night for a results party, eagerly awaiting the election news, according to the Texas Tribune. But when news outlets announced that Abbott had won big and retained his support in Uvalde County, with more than 60% of voters backing the Republican, disappointment descended on the party, the Texas Tribune reported.
"Unfortunately, 21 people dead doesn't change people's minds," Jazmin Cazares, 17, whose 9-year-old sister, Jacklyn, was killed at the Robb Elementary school shooting, said, the outlet reported.
Veronica Mata, a kindergarten teacher, chimed in, "Everybody has the right to vote for whoever they want, we just hoped that they would see where we were coming from and see what we wanted to change."
Berlinda Arreola, a grandmother of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, who was killed in the shooting, said, "The only thing that is going to change people's minds is when it happens to them."
Kimberly Garcia holds a poster of her daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, who was murdered during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, during a March For Our Lives rally on August 27, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
John Lira, the Democratic candidate who lost his challenge against Rep. Tony Gonzales for a Texas congressional seat, joined the families at the watch party.
According to the Tribune, he described O'Rouke's loss and Abbott's win, as "crushing" but said, "it just means that the fight goes on.
"This community, these families, they fought their ass off for change, for a new vision, for somebody that will listen to them and be responsive to them and what happened to this community," he added.
Writing on Twitter, Kimberly Garcia, the mother of Amerie Jo Garza, said, "one thing is for sure, I will NEVER stop fighting for my children and yours."
Shiki_4728 on November 12nd, 2022 at 15:19 UTC »
Despite Texas being under GOP control for many years, Abbott keeps pointing the finger at the President and the Dems, as if they have anything to do with the crisises Texas has dealt with under Abbott's leadership. Much like Kemp in Georgia, he wins because his constituents are ignorant and unwilling to think about why things are the way they are, and no tragedy will be enough to wake them up to the truth. Abbott does not care about your lives. If he did, he would have done something about Uvalde. If he did, he would have fixed the power grid issue. Instead he always riles up his base by saying that their problems are someone else's fault, and they fall for it every single time.
Silverspeed85 on November 12nd, 2022 at 15:12 UTC »
"Berlinda Arreola, the grandmother of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, killed in the shooting, said, "The only thing that is going to change people's minds is when it happens to them."
This is absolutely the case, unfortunately.
rocketpack99 on November 12nd, 2022 at 14:39 UTC »
His response to Uvalde was pure sociopathic. But then Texas also keeps reelecting Ted Cruz as well. This blind devotion to the worst of humanity is disturbing.