An effort to stop Tarrant County’s new commissioner precincts was shot down Thursday.
Multiple groups suing the county over the maps asked Judge Megan Fahey to enact an injunction against the county’s new maps, claiming that the map is not legally valid because it focuses on population and partisanship without consideration for other state constitutional requirements for redistricting.
It was part of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County and the League of United Latin American Citizens Fort Worth Council 4568.
The lawsuit alleges the county’s mid-decade redistricting is unconstitutional, naming Tarrant County, the commissioners court and County Judge Tim O’Hare as defendants.
Karla Maradiaga, a staff voting rights attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said she believes the evidence presented was sufficient to achieve a temporary injunction.
“We believe that the evidence provided by our witnesses and our experts were sufficient to show that we would likely get relief on the merits and that the motion should have been granted,” Maradiaga said.
Still, plaintiffs in the lawsuit weren’t surprised, she said.
“Unfortunately, they were not surprised by the outcome,” she told KERA News. “I think they live on a daily basis with these policies and just how opaque they are.”
Opponents of the new electoral map have described it as racist and a power grab, allegations attorneys denied at a hearing about the requested injunction Sept. 25.
Attorneys for the county said the map is political and not related to race or other demographics. They argued the court does not have jurisdiction and that the Tarrant County Commissioners Court has the right to redistrict whenever it wants.
Maradiaga said the denial means attorneys suing the county will need to take “a two pronged approach moving forward.”
“We need to do more work at kind of explaining that law and why it doesn't apply as the county has framed it,” Maradiaga said. “Then also continuing to provide more evidence, to seek more evidence, particularly from the county ... to put before the judge about why we are right on the law and on the facts.”
The decision came a week after an hours-long hearing before Fahey in which the plaintiffs asked her to temporarily block the electoral map from going into effect. The map’s biggest changes were in Precincts 1 and 2, both represented by the two Democrats on the county commissioners court.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who currently represents District 2, has previously said she believes the new map was intended to force her out of office. Republicans on the court said she was wrong and the changes were related to population and political representation.
At the Sept. 25 meeting, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued the map isn’t legally valid because it focuses on partisanship and population without consideration for other state constitutional requirements.
During the hearing, the county’s defense argued that the matter wasn’t fit for a district court because it was a political decision made by the commissioners court, a legislative body.
Nina Oishi, another voting rights staff attorney at the Civil Rights Project, said after the Sept. 25 hearing that the lawsuit is about ensuring Tarrant County residents have a fair voice in county government.
“Especially in Tarrant County, the commissioner's court here is so powerful,” Oishi said after the hearing. “They set the budget. They maintain the roads. They determine what programs get funding.”
Attorneys defending the county have previously declined interviews, citing policy that they do not comment on pending litigation.
This was the second time plaintiffs suing the county have sought an injunction. The first was in a separate but related case filed in federal court.
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org or follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
