Don McLaughlin, Jr.

From Conservapedia - Reading time: 2 min

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​Donald E. "Don" McLaughlin, Jr.
Mayor of Uvalde, Texas, USA​
In office 2014​ – ​2024
Preceded by	J. Allen Carnes​
Born	c. 1962​ Place of birth missing​
Political party	Republican in nonpartisan position
Spouse(s)	Karen M. Backor McLaughlin (married 1991)
Residence	Uvalde, Uvalde County​

Donald E. McLaughlin, Jr., known as Don McLaughlin, Jr. (born c. 1962),^[1] has been since 2014 the mayor of Uvalde in his native Texas. He rocketed to national attention on May 24, 2022, when a mad gunman killed nineteen pupils and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a small city some fifty miles from the Rio Grande border and ninety miles west of San Antonio.

During a news conference, McLaughlin lashed out at former U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, who interrupted Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. McLaughlin called the Democrat O'Rourke, who is challenging Abbott in the November 8 general election, "a sick son-of-bitch" for storming the news conference in a failed attempt to focus on O'Rourke's political fortunes. Abbott and Patrick focused on the staggering grief in the closely-knit Uvalde community.^[2]

McLaughlin is a conservative Republican, but all Texas mayors run on a nonpartisan ballot. In his capacity as mayor, McLaughlin has been outspoken in opposition to the unchecked border policies of U.S. President Joe Biden. He has also quarreled with the "Big Three" of the Texas Republican leadership, Governor Abbott and U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, all of whom he contends have not returned his phone calls. McLaughlin called Abbott "a fraud" over lingering border issues which cause chaos and violence in Uvalde. In the Republican primary on March 1, 2022, McLaughlin endorsed conservative former state Representative Don Huffines of Dallas.^[3] Huffines, however, finished a weak third in the election which Abbott fully dominated.

He was elected mayor in 2014 to succeed the one-term J. Allen Carnes, who instead ran unsuccessfully for Texas agriculture commissioner against Sid Miller in the Republican primary that year.^[4]​ McLaughlin won second and third terms in 2016 and 2018. He was then elected to the first four-year term as mayor.^[5] Most Texas mayors serve two-year terms.

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