The Tarrant County Commissioners Court could get a bigger conservative majority next year under a new map passed Tuesday.
Republican Commissioners Manny Ramirez, Matt Krause and County Judge Tim O'Hare voted to adopt the map. Democratic Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr. voted against it.
The map reshapes the two Democrat-controlled precincts and makes Precinct 2 more friendly to Republicans, according to past election data shared by the county.
This could make it harder for Simmons to be reelected to Precinct 2 in 2026.
“This appears to be a calculated attempt to strip representation from the very communities that we were elected to represent,” Simmons said at Tuesday's meeting.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, announced his candidacy for Precinct 2 almost immediately after the vote — the day after he announced his retirement from the Texas House.
“Throughout my career, I’ve fought to protect our values, ensure responsible government, and serve the people of Texas with integrity and commitment,” he said in a statement posted to X. “I’m running to bring that same leadership and experience to Tarrant County, and I humbly ask for your trust and your vote as we work together to strengthen our community and build a more prosperous Tarrant County.”
Simmons plans to run for reelection, she confirmed to KERA News in a text message.
The county released five potential redistricting maps at the beginning of May that were discussed at four public hearings throughout the county. On Friday, the county posted two more maps online, options six and seven. Krause moved to adopt option seven, and that’s the map that was approved.
“For the most part, I thought it maximized the partisan advantage to about as much as it could,” Krause told reporters after the meeting.
See the current map, and the new one, here
It’s unclear why the two new maps were added. Krause said he did not know why option seven came in late, but he wasn’t concerned about a lack of transparency. Commissioners could have made changes to the maps live at the meeting with zero public input, he said.
KERA News has reached out to attorneys with the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the conservative law firm hired to lead the redistricting process, to ask about maps six and seven. This story will be updated if they respond. The foundation has been criticized throughout the redistricting process for declining to speak to the public or answer their questions at public meetings.
More than 200 people signed up to speak at Tuesday’s meeting. Most of those who spoke during the three-and-a-half hour public comment period argued against redistricting.
Monica Bharadwaj told commissioners she’s never voted straight-ticket Republican or Democrat. Adopting more partisan maps will tamp down the influence of moderate voters, she said.
“You are protecting power through gerrymandering that will silence voices you were elected to represent,” Bharadwaj said.
Redistricting is not undemocratic, as some opponents allege, O’Hare said.
“Part of that democratic process is that there’s three people sitting here who were duly elected by their constituents,” he said.
O’Hare spoke to television reporters after the meeting but declined to speak to reporters from KERA News or the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Each commissioner represents one geographic precinct, except for O'Hare, who represents the entire county. The commissioners court already has a Republican majority and all three members have said their aim with redistricting is to make that majority bigger.
Ramirez said the redistricting process is partisan by nature.
“In a perfect world, it may not be. But it is political,” he said.
The three Republicans also blocked attempts from the court’s two Democrats to keep the existing precinct map and to delay the vote. Miles Jr. asked for more time to consider options six and seven, which he received less than a week ago, he said. His Republican colleagues voted him down.
Miles, Simmons and other redistricting opponents allege the proposed maps are racially discriminatory, violating the Voting Rights Act.
The maps slice voters of color out of Precinct 2 and pack them into Miles’ Precinct 1, limiting their voting power to one seat, opponents argue. It’s a move Congressman Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, called “Jim Crow politics.”
“Redistricting shapes the voice of the people. It defines who has a seat at the table,” Miles said. “That is why it must be done with integrity, transparency and true public participation. None of that has happened here."
Supporters of redistricting denied the proposed maps were discriminatory. Tarrant County needs conservative leadership to avoid problems like high taxes, Renee Thomas said.
“This is good governance, and I want to keep my taxes down under conservative leadership,” she said.
Others put it simply: “Don’t Dallas my Tarrant,” Tammie Grantham said.
Many speakers in favor of redistricting urged commissioners to pick the map that would favor conservatives the most. Most other county elected offices are held by Republicans already, several people argued.
If Republicans want a bigger majority on the commissioners court, they should campaign for it, not redraw the maps, Ezra Kirkos said.
“When you’re circumventing the democratic process, that is when people get disillusioned,” Kirkos said.
Tuesday’s meeting was chaotic at times. Several members of the public were thrown out after calling O’Hare, or others, racist. The court’s rules of decorum ban personal attacks, O’Hare said.
At one point, Republican commissioners tried to limit Simmons’ speaking time and paused the meeting to discuss whether the rules allowed them to do so. When commissioners reconvened, O’Hare limited each commissioner’s comments.
Redistricting mid-decade is unusual. The process usually happens every 10 years, after the U.S. Census. Both parties use it for their own gain, with Democrats in Dallas and Harris counties drawing favorable commissioners court maps for themselves in recent years.
After the 2020 Census, previous Tarrant County commissioners voted to keep the map the same, because the precincts were balanced by population.
Tarrant County’s biggest cities, Fort Worth and Arlington, passed resolutions opposing redistricting. Ten mayors, including Fort Worth’s Mattie Parker and Arlington’s Jim Ross, signed a letter asking the county to wait for redistricting until the 2030 Census. The new maps rely on old data and could be racially discriminatory, the letter warned.
People hoping the courts will throw out the new map shouldn’t be so certain, Krause said.
“I think the mayors did a real disservice to include a letter that was so factually inaccurate,” he said.
Two mayors who signed that letter later asked for their signatures to be removed, according to O’Hare. A group of four northeast Tarrant County mayors, from Keller, Southlake, Colleyville and North Richland Hills, signed their own letter in support of redistricting.
Two attorneys from the Texas Civil Rights Project spoke at the meeting. When asked if the group plans to sue, a spokesperson replied, “We are concerned by the redistricting process/maps and are attending in support of the communities speaking out.”
Protesters denounce redistricting
Around 100 people gathered Tuesday morning outside the G.K. Maenius Administration Building ahead of the vote.
The crowd held up signs calling the effort racial gerrymandering and listened to speakers emphasizing the importance of public speaking and voting.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, Fort Worth City Council member Jared Williams and Simmons told the crowd that, by being there, they were making a difference.
Ross said his biggest ask was for county leaders to delay redistricting until after the 2030 census, creating time for legal reviews, community input and more accurate demographic data.
"Let's slow this process down," Ross told KERA News after addressing protesters. "Let's make sure that this process is adhering to the laws of the State of Texas and the federal government."
Ross said he offered to have the consultant the city hired for the legal review visit with commissioners and offer their opinions on legal challenges the county is likely to face. The county declined, he said.
Simmons has been a staunch opponent to redistricting since the effort was started, describing it as racist and gerrymandering. She told the crowd this redistricting process is an attempt to remove her from office by breaking up her supporters.
"It has been said by members of this court that by calling out these maps, by naming the intentional discrimination, I am creating a distraction. That you are creating a distraction," Simmons told the protesters. "Let me be clear: the distraction is not race, the distraction is racism."
It's unclear if or when Simmons would file a lawsuit over the new map. She told reporters after the meeting she and Miles are considering their options.
This story has been updated with comments from Tarrant County commissioners and public speakers at commissioners court.
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