In the 2026 tumultuous election cycle in Texas, one of the marquee races for Congress is right in Tarrant County but hasn’t gotten a lot of attention ahead of the March 3 primary.
It’s under-the-radar despite featuring one of the most high-profile figures in the state: Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth.
Lee, 99, isn’t on the ballot, but her granddaughter is. Dione Sims, 57, who has been by Lee’s side for years at “Freedom Walks” — and everything else related to promoting Juneteenth as a federal holiday — is a community activist who decided rather suddenly last year to run for Congress.
She entered the Democratic primary for the 25th District on Dec. 8, the last day of filing, to run for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park.
And Lee is very much a factor, appearing at Sims’ kickoff Jan. 10 in Forest Hills, giving her endorsement and asking people to support her granddaughter.
“I’m asking you to give the best you can,” Lee told the crowd. “Let’s see, can we get her to be elected. It would be monumental. I’m asking everybody, everybody, to do something to get Dione elected. All you’ve got to do is get on the phone and call somebody in that district and ask them to be sure to vote for her. ’Cause I’m going to be out there.”
It is clear that having her granddaughter in the contest is part of Lee’s legacy, although she hasn’t been on the campaign trail recently as she is recovering from a recent hospitalization, Sims said.
When Sims first told Lee she was running, the Juneteenth icon replied, “Where are your cards at?” meaning her campaign material. Then Lee advised her: “You got to get to the churches, That’s where the people are at.”
Sims, a political novice, has taken her grandmother’s campaign strategy to heart, appearing at churches to speak on Sundays throughout the primary season. She planned to wind up with appearances at two churches, before attending the Tarrant County Democratic Party’s primary rally for all candidates March 1 at the Sons of the American Legion Tuskegee Airmen Lounge in Fort Worth.
“The whole process has been a learning experience,” said Sims, who did no television advertising but did block-walk, attend candidate forums, distribute literature and post on social media, often featuring her grandmother.
“I am running social posts from her speaking at the kickoff,” said Sims. “To say, ‘Am I running on my grandmother a bit?’” She answers with a laugh, “Yeah, I am.”
Sims has her own record, of course, as the founder and CEO of the Fort Worth nonprofit Unity Unlimited Inc., which is heavily involved in promoting Juneteenth activities.
So, why is Sims running, especially in a district designed to favor a Republican?
“My reason for even jumping into the race goes back to gerrymandering,” she said in an interview. When the state held hearings in August on the mid-decade redistricting pushed by President Donald Trump to create five GOP-leaning districts, Sims said she saw red.
She went down to Austin to testify at the Statehouse, arriving at 8 a.m. and staying until 10 p.m. without getting the chance to speak. But she said the day had a profound impact on her, hearing even Republicans say that there was no guarantee they would get all five seats.
That’s when Sims had an epiphany. “When I got back home, I thought we just need people to run. Then, I heard, ‘Why not you?’”
Who said that? “Maybe the Lord,” said Sims. But the thought galvanized her, and she decided to take the plunge.
Sims said she was so new to the process that she didn’t even pay attention to whether anyone else was filing on the Democratic side in the primary.
And there was someone: retired Navy Cmdr. William Marks, who moved to Arlington a few years ago.
“It’s almost like an act of fate that brought me to politics,” Marks said in an interview. Last year, Marks, 51, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, mobilized opposition to the institution, which was banning books in answer to a dictate from the Trump administration.
Marks helped force the issue, noting that books like Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” were banned while Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was not.
Marks acknowledges the star power backing his primary rival. “Opal Lee is an icon for the entire country. Her family deserves credit,” he said.
The two agree on most issues, such as accessible health care, taxing billionaires, ethics in government, and Marks said his priority is flipping the seat to defeat Williams.
Sims said that her advantage in the race is with the voters over the years.
“They’ve known me,” she said. “They’ve seen me supporting my grandmother. I am a community person.”
Williams, first elected to Congress in 2012, represents what in the 2026 election is now a redrawn district that actually has more Democrats and minorities than it did before — after Republicans carved up Congressional District 33, held by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth.
It is still, however, a Republican-favored district that would have elected Trump by 18%. The population center of the district is in Tarrant County, but it stretches west across 13 counties that are largely white and rural.
“CD 25 is drawn for a Republican to win and for the purposes of diluting minority voters,” said Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic Political Action Committee based in Fort Worth.
He gives Sims props for jumping into the race: “Anybody who has met her is impressed by her. She clearly has leadership skills, is poised and thoughtful.”
Maria Recio is a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C.
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