Outside of the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
Madeleine Cook
mcook@star-telegram.com
The incumbent Tarrant County Clerk is calling out a Democratic primary candidate for not understanding the job.
In the Star-Telegram’s 2026 March 3 Primary Election Questionnaire, Democrat candidate Lydia Bean said the county clerk has authority over the elections administration.
“The incumbent has helped our County Judge advance his voter suppression agenda,” Bean said in the questionnaire. “I will stand up for voting rights as the deciding vote on the Tarrant County Elections Commission.”
For the average resident, the county clerk’s office is where someone goes to file or get copies of important personal and business records. According to the website, the office also collects over $24 million in fees and fines and $17 million in bonds.
County Clerk Mary Louise Nicholson, who is running for re-election in November, said her office has not had authority in the elections administration since 1999, when the county commissioners created the elections administrator position.
Nicholson has held the seat since 2011. Bean, a small business owner, was the Democratic nominee for Texas House District 93 in 2020 but lost to Republican Matt Krause.
By statute, the Tarrant County Clerk is the vice chair of the County Election Commission, which meets regularly for updates from the elections administrator about election matters. The Texas Legislature in 2011 outlined that the commission cannot do anything beyond appointing, accepting the resignation of or recommending the termination of the county’s election administrator.
The commission is chaired by the county judge and includes the tax-assessor collector, the county Republican Party chair and the county Democratic Party chair. As of now, four of the five are Republicans.
“Given the above, the idea the County Clerk can advance an agenda of voter suppression or otherwise influence an election outcome is baseless,” Nicholson said to the Star-Telegram in a statement.
Bean said she stands behind her questionnaire response because Nicholson “refused to stand up to” County Judge Tim O’Hare when the previous elections administrator, Heider Garcia, resigned in April 2023 following disagreements with O’Hare.
🟥Election 2026🟦
Get Star-Telegram headlines in your inbox.
Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.