BY JEFF B. FLINN Managing Editor
There was a time a few years past when State Sen. Roland Gutierrez said he was ready to leave the state Legislature, where he’s served since 2008.
“To tell you the truth, I was ready to get out of public office after almost 20 years at the Texas Capitol,” Gutierrez said at Thursday’s gathering of Kendall County Democratic Party members at the Longhorn Café in Boerne.
“I literally was ready to give up,” he said, “because what happens in Austin is so demoralizing. And then that day happened to me.”
“That day” was May 24, 2022. A gunman in possession of an AR-15 assault rifle burst into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and mowed down a classroom of fourth graders, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Gutierrez arrived in Uvalde and met with school staff, parents and city residents.
“And then that day happened to me and happened to those kids and those families. I said, ‘Look, we have to change this, we have to make our world a better place to live,’” he said, later admitting, “I was emotionally stuck there, mentally stuck there, for some time.
“And I saw what Ted Cruz’s responses were. I saw what other peoples’ responses were to that horrible tragedy, and that horrible failure,” he said, “so much so that I decided to make this run.”
He told the lunchtime crowd of the videos and photos he possesses of the body cam footage from that day.
“I’ve seen all of it, hundreds of hours. I have seen images I cannot get out of my mind, images that nobody should want to see or should see.”
Then he told the crowd, “You’re damned right we need an assault weapons ban. That kid went in there and just swept through that room. ‘Indiscriminate’ doesn’t describe their deaths.”
Gutierrez said a ban on the sale of such assault weapons would not interfere with a person’s ability to own or possess guns.
“To tell you the truth, I own guns. I have a whole bunch of guns,” he said. “I don’t own an AR-15, I don’t need an AR-15.
“And I don’t want to take anyone’s guns away; if you’ve got one, keep it. But we shouldn’t sell (assault weapons) anymore, because half of what we produce every year are ending up in the cartels in Mexico, that’s proven,” he stated.
Gutierrez further assailed those in control in Austin and the Legislature.
“There is nothing good that is happening in Austin. These people (Republicans) have controlled this state for 30 years,” he said. “If you look at their education outcomes … you are responsible for the poor education outcomes, and the school shootings and the fentanyl and the bullying, and every part of it.
“They have dumbed down education to nothing in this state. Kids deserve whole helluva lot more,” he said. “We as citizens deserve a lot more, because when you don’t spend enough on education … then you get those kinds of outcomes on the back end.”
Gutierrez mentioned aspects of his campaign he would stress through the primaries: a college affordability plan, a comprehensive immigration reform plan, a health care plan. He said these are laid out on his website for anyone to peruse.
“The last 30 years, the poor healthcare outcomes are on them, the GOP. The poor education outcomes are on them,” he said.
“And we have to live in a state that doesn’t tell a woman what to do with her body,” he said to an outburst of applause. “I don’t think any one of us wants an abortion, but it’s not my choice to tell a woman to do. It just isn’t.”
Gutierrez said Democrats need to find and encourage voters who will help make a difference in elections to come.
“I can win this thing, I can beat Ted Cruz,” he said. “Mathematically, demographically, I can tell you a well-prepared candidate can win this thing, but I’m the only one who’s going to punch him in the nose.”
He reasserted the educational shortcomings that Republicans use to insist on support for school vouchers.
“They have nothing to offer us by way of good ideas. Nothing to offer, other than a voucher program that benefits 50,000 kids -- forget the other 5 million,” he said. “I have not supported it; I will never support it. It hasn’t worked in one state that they’ve done this. It’s a waste of our money, a waste of our resources.”
Gutierrez fielded questions from the crowd before leaving the event, bound for Austin and the start of the fourth Special Legislative Session that began later that day.
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