Tarrant County judge advances conservative viewpoints
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Tarrant County's top official once created a political action committee to promote conservative city and school board candidates in Southlake.
Why it matters: Tim O'Hare's rise in one of the country's largest counties exemplifies what happens when far-right Republicans make it to top positions in local government, the Texas Tribune and ProPublica report.
- This election could expand O'Hare's power in Tarrant County. Two of the five county commission seats are open after incumbents decided not to run again.
Catch up fast: O'Hare was a Farmers Branch City Council member and then mayor. While mayor, he pushed for an ordinance that would have prevented landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. The city faced a barrage of lawsuits and the ordinance was never implemented.
- O'Hare and his family later moved to Southlake, and he became involved in the city's debate over critical race theory. He was the Tarrant County GOP chair before taking office as county judge in 2023.
The intrigue: Tarrant County voted for Democrats Beto O'Rourke in the 2018 Senate race and Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.
- But O'Hare's campaign for county judge, with backing from oil billionaires and evangelical churches, highlighted that far-right Republicans still hold political clout.
Context: The county judge presides over the commissioners court, which oversees the county budget, jail, tax rates, sheriff's office and other county offices.
- As county judge, O'Hare has tried to advance conservative viewpoints on election integrity. He sparred with the county's election administrator who eventually resigned, tried to keep college campuses from serving as early voting sites and questioned local nonprofits that serve underrepresented communities.
Friction point: O'Hare's views have, at times, caused disagreements within the Tarrant County GOP.
- Last year, the commissioners court rejected sending state funds for Girls Inc. of Tarrant County after some residents complained that the organization supported LGBTQ issues and abortion rights.
- Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, also a Republican, said she was disappointed by the vote and later joined the nonprofit's advisory committee.