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, 18:25, May 26, 2022
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Donald E. "Don" McLaughlin, Jr.
|image=Don McLaughlin of TX.jpg
|office=[[Mayor]] of Uvalde, [[Texas]], USA
|term_start=2014
|term_end=2024
|preceded=[[J. Allen Carnes]]
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]] in nonpartisan position
|birth_date=c. 1962
|birth_place=Place of birth missing
|residence=Uvalde, Uvalde County
|spouse=Karen M. Backor McLaughlin (married 1991)}}
'''Donald E. McLaughlin, Jr.''', known as '''Don McLaughlin, Jr.''' (born c. 1962)<ref>Donald E. Mclaughlin Jr (born 1962) - Uvalde County, Texas (ancientfaces.com), accessed May 26, 2022.</ref> 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 [[Democratic Party|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.<ref>Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin Biography, Wiki, Age, Career, Education, Birthplace (mymorningtea.in), accessed May 26, 2022.</ref>
McLaughlin is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|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. Senator]]s [[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]].<ref>South Texas Mayor Endorses Huffines for Governor, Says Border Crisis ‘Far Worse Than Many People Realize’ | The Texan, accessed May 26, 2022.</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.etypeservices.com/Uvalde1/Magazine53419/Publication/Magazine53419.pdf |publisher=''Uvalde Leader-News'' | date=May 15, 2014 |title=McLaughlin is new mayor}}</ref> McLaughlin won second and third terms in 2016 and 2018. He was then elected to the first four-year term as mayor.<ref>Who is Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin? (statesman.com), accessed May 26, 2022.</ref> Most Texas mayors serve two-year terms.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Jr., Don}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]