In 2022, longtime Tarrant County Judge R. Glen Whitley, a consummate moderate Republican, opted to retire after a nearly 30-year reign.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, another moderate GOPer, was his most likely successor. But the county’s conservative movement rallied instead behind Tim O’Hare, a right-wing activist backed by West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, and he toppled Price in a contentious primary. He then went on to win the county’s top executive position in November.
But conservatives’ hopes of securing a new supermajority alongside O’Hare on the county commissioners court were thwarted when Alisa Simmons, the longtime president of the Arlington NAACP, bested her Republican opponent in the most competitive precinct in the county.
Tarrant has long survived as the state’s most populous GOP-held county—even as it’s narrowly swung to Democrats for some top-ballot candidates—by favoring a middle-of-the-road conservatism with broad appeal. Since the rise of the tea party movement, though, a more fundamentalist strain has been angling for power.
O’Hare’s election was a coming of age for that movement, and he has shifted county government and the commissioners court in a decidedly more hard-right, culture-war direction. Simmons, then, emerged as O’Hare’s chief political foil on the dais.
Last year, O’Hare and his fellow Republican commissioners decided to try again for a red supermajority by redistricting the county precincts, redrawing Simmons’ seat to almost guarantee a Republican would win it in 2026. That prompted Simmons to challenge O’Hare for the county judge spot.
If successful, she’d be the first Democrat to hold the position since 1986.
And there are indications that this could be a breakthrough year. In a January special election for a deep-red state Senate seat in the county, Democrat and local union leader Taylor Rehmet pulled off a decisive upset against right-wing activist Leigh Wambsganss, a close ally of O’Hare.
The Texas Observer spoke with Simmons in late May about her opponent, budget politics, and the dangers of Christian nationalism.
TO: Looking back at the past nearly four years that you’ve spent on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, how would you describe your tenure so far?
It’s a never-ending battle on behalf and for the people of this community. I came in to make a real difference in people’s lives from a county governance perspective and to help those struggling. But this court with Tim and his sidekicks has not been a reflection of the needs of our people, our community, our neighbors.
The previous Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, he kind of governed as a consummate moderate Republican county judge during his long reign. How would you compare his governing style to the current leadership?
Oof. There is a very drastic difference. While both are Republicans, Judge Whitley governed as a moderate Republican who was open-minded. It never seemed to be his way or the highway. It seemed to be what’s best for the constituents of Tarrant County. That’s how he governed in my observation. Not very punitive. Not party-oriented. And so that differs from what we have now with Tim. He seems to be advancing MAGA philosophies and ideas. Ensuring Project 2025 is implemented at the local county level in Tarrant County.
You and O’Hare have repeatedly gotten into verbal sparring matches. At one point, he yelled at you to “sit there and be quiet and listen.” How would you characterize your relationship with him and why it’s been so tense and at times vitriolic?
Well, right now, the relationship is… it’s non-existent. We came on at the same time. And in January 2023, we sat down and came over to Arlington. We had lunch and we dialogued. We governed well most of that first year and we listened and we aligned on a number of things. And then, something changed from his perspective.
He began to lodge disrespect at me, and I was puzzled by it for a while. And then realized I need to get back to being the authentic me, who would never dare sit still for disrespect. I quickly got back to being genuine and refused to take that type of treatment from anybody, especially an equally empowered colleague. Nobody is in charge of the other one or the boss.
Was there a specific moment or reason that you recall that you decided you were going to run for county judge?
When the judge and my other two Republican colleagues decided to undertake mid-decade redistricting. At each of the four hearings, the overwhelming consensus was, “Don’t do this.” And they ignored our constituents.
I just believe that our constituents deserve better from the county executive. And when they voted to redistrict my precinct, making it much more difficult for a Democrat to win in Precinct 2, I decided I may as well run countywide. The numbers looked better, and gave me a better chance of winning a seat to stay on the court to continue serving.
What would your top priorities be as Tarrant County judge?
I’m going to have to right-size this county budget. We immediately started out the year deficit spending. I’m very concerned about being able to give employee raises next year because my colleagues have cut the property tax rate below the no-new-revenue rate. This last year, for fiscal year 2026, I was not able to see where we could go below the no-new-revenue rate. Yes, we could maintain the current tax rate, but not go below. So I absconded from the meeting. I refused to take any part in this.
And immediately after the budget went into effect, we were dipping into reserves. While my opponent says we decreased spending, we absolutely have not decreased spending. … Every year we’ve been in office, the budget has increased.
I want to immediately take care of so many inefficiencies. One is we’ve gone to one meeting a month. That is not the way you run a county this size—the third-largest county in the state. And looking at our programming, those areas which have been cut like human services, rental assistance, utility assistance—we’ve cut immunization programs—we’ve given money back to the federal government. It’s just so much that needs to be corrected here.
All the departments are operating out of fear and not with an eye towards service. I’ve gotten so many anonymous emails, letters, text messages, phone calls about what is happening in these departments that day-to-day serve the public. It is alarming.
What do you think it’ll take for you as a Democrat to win?
We’ve got to get out there, reach everybody and let them know that sensible, non-political leadership is what I intend to bring to the commissioners court. Much like Judge Whitley. Just serve the people. Not serve the Democrats, not serve the Republicans. Serve the people, and listen to all the people—all the Democrats, all the independents, all the Republicans.
Over the past several years, we’ve seen Tarrant County become a nesting ground for the rise of Christian nationalism in conservative politics, and through O’Hare and the Republican majority, within county government. How dangerous do you think that is, and what do you think needs to be done to roll that back?
Well, the danger of Christian nationalism in local government or county government is not primarily that elected officials are personally religious. I’m a Christian. I worship in my church. I serve in my church. Plenty of public servants are people of faith. The danger emerges when government power begins to blur that line between constitutional governance and a sectarian political project. Especially when that project seeks to privilege one religious worldview over pluralism and civil liberties and democratic participation or equal treatment under the law. Rhetoric that excludes LGBTQ+ communities, immigrant communities. That aggressive, partisan restructuring of institutions, and the framing of political opposition as morally illegitimate rather than simply ideological disagreement.
I mean, we can disagree. But there’s nothing morally wrong about me or a Democratic colleague.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The post The Tides of Tarrant appeared first on The Texas Observer.
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