Listen: Full Post-Debate Comments From Angela Villescaz — Founder of Uvalde-Based “Fierce Madres”
Governor Greg Abbott and gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke arrived in the Rio Grande Valley on Friday to take part in the only debate scheduled in the race for governor.
O’Rourke was joined by dozens of family members of the Uvalde shooting victims to publicly lend their support to the candidate in a press briefing in Edinburg a few hours before the debate.
The Uvalde families and organizations calling for stricter gun control measures in Texas watched the debate from Real Del Valle, an event center a few miles away from where the candidates took the stage. As per Abbott’s campaign request, no people were allowed to attend the debate in person.
I dropped by Real Del Valle to talk to voters about the debate and had a chance to speak to Angela Villescaz, the founder of Fierce Madres — one of the Uvalde-based organizations that made the trip out to the region for the event.
She shared her thoughts on the candidates and why she felt calls for tighter gun control have been ignored by the current governor.
“It’s because the children that died are our gente, our raza,” said Villescas. “And we can’t just overlook that and go back to living our lives.”
We also talked about her sentiments on national media narratives about Latinos in the current election cycle.
Listen to the audio of her full comments below:
