Candidates against critical race theory thrive in North Texas

Candidates who rose to prominence opposing critical race theory did well in North Texas elections this week — but that wasn't the case in other parts of the state.

Driving the news: Tim O'Hare, who co-founded the Southlake Families PAC, which supports candidates running on anti-CRT platforms, won his race for Tarrant County judge.

• Karen Lowery, one of two women who filed a police report about school library books in Granbury — triggering a criminal investigation — won a seat on the Granbury ISD board of trustees.

State of play: CRT has become a rallying cry for conservatives across the country who say parents should have more control over what their children learn in school.

• And the suburbs of Fort Worth have become a front line in the national fight over the way schools handle issues of race and personal identity in general.

Zoom out: Several Republican State Board of Education candidates who ran on platforms opposing CRT also won their races Tuesday night, giving Republicans one more seat on the board, according to the Texas Tribune.

• Some Republicans have hoped to capitalized on parental anger over the teaching of race and sexuality in schools in an effort to get state funding for private education, per NBC News.

Catch up quick: When O'Hare was mayor of Farmers Branch from 2008 to 2011, he made national headlines for ordinances that prevented landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. He was also the Tarrant County GOP chair from 2016 to 2018.

• In 2020, he co-founded Southlake Families with Leigh Wambsganss, who is now the executive director of Patriot Mobile Action PAC — the driving financial force behind the election of 11 new school board members in four suburban North Texas districts in recent years.

Meanwhile: In Round Rock, north of Austin, five candidates running for school board seats on an anti-CRT platform were routed.

The bottom line: While the election is over, the culture war among local school boards is far from finished.