Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons announced today in Arlington that she will be running against County Judge Tim O'Hare.
She has butted heads with O'Hare often since she joined the commissioners court in 2022.
Simmons says she is running for county judge because she believes the current court is too focused on partisan fighting.
"There are so many inefficiencies from IT infrastructure to the jail to MHMR and behavioral health care that need to be addressed," Simmons said. "I need it to be addressed professionally, and it's time that we we take a real look at what's happening in this county and work to improve those things and stop all the the political partisanship stuff and get to work."
The Democrat led the Arlington NAACP for more than a decade before she joined the commissioners court in 2022.
Simmons repeatedly has confronted O’Hare on a number of issues including jail accountability at the sheriff’s office, meeting decorum — and most recently on the county’s redistricting efforts.
Earlier this year, the Republican majority on the court voted to approve redistricting maps drawn up by the conservative-leaning law firm Public Interest Legal Foundation. Tarrant County’s southeastern regions saw the most change.
Simmons alleged the new map discriminated against Black and Latino voters. Citizens and advocacy groups suing the county claimed the maps violated people’s voting rights .O’Hare argued the map was legal and did not violate racial gerrymandering laws.
Both lawsuits were dismissed earlier this month, meaning the new maps will go into effect.
The newly drawn districts appear to favor conservative candidates, including in the reshaped Precinct 2, which made it harder for Simmons to win back her seat. Retiring Republican Texas Rep. Tony Tinderholt announced his bid for the seat in June.
Simmons said she had planned to run for county judge at some point in her career, but the new precinct maps pushed her to run for this election cycle.
"We needed a new county judge," said Simmons. "But it was all of the before redistricting occurred that I began considering this role. Then, of course, after redistricting, yes, when you look at the look at how my district was decimated then it made sense to go ahead and run countywide."
Simmons and businesswoman Lydia Bean will fight for the Democratic nomination in March 3.
The general election will take place November 2026.
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org. KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members.
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