Lupe Valdez has already made history. In 2005, Valdez made headlines as she ran for Dallas County Sheriff as an openly gay Latina democrat… and won.
Since then, Valdez has been remembered for being a living landmark when it comes to LGBTQ advocacy and activity in politics and community services. That has skyrocketed her towards an attempt at Texas governor, but one mistake during her exit from the sheriff’s office may now be her undoing.
The problem is that Valdez has been running on a tight gun control campaign. She even wrote for the Houston Chronicle that, “Many of the ideas like increased mental health counseling and enhanced security are essential."
Now according to the Washington Post, her own gun has gone missing.
Back on December 31 of last year, Valez left her job as sheriff. When doing so, she had to return a state owned Beretta 9mm that she had borrowed from the range masters. Unfortunately, they have now reported that the gun is missing and has been classified as lost or stolen.
“Once I was notified that my weapon was not accounted for, I did my due diligence to locate the weapon. To my knowledge, my weapon was misplaced during the transition,” Valdez said to the Dallas Morning News.
“As a leader, I take responsibility for any error that happened during my transition regarding my weapon,” Valdez added. “I take gun ownership seriously and I have cooperated with the department.”
What makes this worse is that Valdez earlier presented the idea that people should be held accountable for the misplacement and reckless security of their guns.
That said, it hasn’t been announced if Valdez will need to pay for the missing gun (which costs about $649.99).
Of course, her political opponent has used this for an opportunity to attack.
Incumbent Governor Greg Abbott (R) wrote on Twitter, “Lupe Valdez wants to run the state of Texas but can’t even keep track of her gun? Texans deserve better.”
Not one to blink, Valdez says she will continue to fight for gun reform despite these recent events.
“I promise this: I will not stop talking about common sense gun reform and will not be strong armed by my opponent to silence the debate on gun violence and responsible ownership,” she said.
But, news coverage has had a field day with this situation (as seen above). This is certainly a bad lok for her campaign.
Will this event cause an irreversible hitch in Valdez’s path towards the governor's seat? We’ll find out in November.
h/t: The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle
