Tarrant County candidates shared their vision and goals during a forum Wednesday ahead of early voting.
The Fort Worth Report in collaboration with the League of Women Voters and KERA hosted the forum featuring candidates for Tarrant County commissioner, district attorney, district clerk and county clerk.
Early voting is Oct. 19-30. Election Day is Nov. 3. More election information can be found at the Texas Secretary of State website.
Commissioners, district attorney candidates
The Precinct 2 commissioner race is between former Fort Worth City Council member Jared Williams, a Democrat, and state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican. The seat is open after the current seatholder, commissioner Alisa Simmons, announced her county judge campaign.
The Tarrant County Precinct 4 commissioner race is between incumbent Manny Ramirez, a Republican, and Democrat Nydia Cardenas.
Incumbent Phil Sorrells, a Republican, and Democrat Tiffany Burks are vying for Tarrant County district attorney.
Tinderholt, Ramirez and Sorrells did not attend the forum. The Fort Worth Report extended invitations for all candidates to participate.
Redistricting of commissioner precincts changed the voting maps across Tarrant County. As a result, each candidate acknowledged the changes and said they are willing to meet people affected and learn what different communities need.
Burks said residents from Southlake, Crowley and Arlington require different services from the district attorney’s office. She said she was discouraged when the commissioners court drew the maps.
“It was very clear that it was politically motivated and not for any other purpose than for an opportunity to collect more power,” Burks said. “And whenever you have a governance that is more concerned about politics than what is the just thing to do, then I think we should all be concerned about that.”
More than 80 jail deaths have occurred in Tarrant County since 2017 when Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office. The candidates said they want to provide more transparency, investigations and accountability if they are elected.
Williams said families are owed answers. He said the county needs intentionality about safeguarding human dignity in the jails and better resources for inmates’ reentry and quality of life in communities.
“One death is too many, and the fact that we have 80 means we have a humanitarian crisis right here in Tarrant County,” Williams said.
Cardenas said Tarrant County is not investing money for solutions in communities. Resources such as diversion programs in the jail, health access and mobile clinics do not require a tax increase, she said.
“We can change our revenue strategy, and we can change how we’re spending our money, and we will be able to fund the change that we need in Tarrant County.”
Tarrant County district clerk
The Tarrant County district clerk race is between incumbent Tom Wilder, a Republican, and Democrat Nathan Smith.
The district clerk handles the business and documents of the county’s courts, managing the finances of 28 elected judges and 27 appointed magistrates and associate judges. The district clerk’s team operates the business side of family, civil, criminal and juvenile courts, ranging from managing files to collecting fees.
Wilder operated a commercial real estate company for 22 years before public office. He was elected in 1994.
Smith was a staff member for Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons and served in several roles with the U.S. Army.
Wilder described the position’s role and importance as a business office of the courts. He said district courts had 68,000 new cases last year and 54,000 in magistrate courts.
“We don’t really represent anybody except the law,” Wilder said. “We are supposed to be neutral parties on court cases.”
Smith said the district clerk is not staffing magistrate hearings correctly, as the office is responsible for the flow of information and how proceedings are recorded. Noting the more than 80 jail deaths, he said the need for the office is important.
Wilder said it is his responsibility to collect court records fees commissioners set annually. If he does not collect, the auditor and district attorney would come down on him, he said.
“The district clerk cannot fail to do that,” Wilder said.
Smith said commissioners do not have the authority to tell the district clerk that fees must be collected and that the district court sets the fees.
“I am not collecting those fees, and it is in my agreement to say that I am not collecting those fees,” Smith said.
Tarrant County clerk
Incumbent Mary Louise Nicholson, a Republican, has been county clerk since 2011. Democrat Lydia Bean, a small-business owner, is challenging Nicholson.
The county clerk is the record keeper for commissioners court and county courts and maintains birth and death records, marriage licenses and property deeds.
The county clerk also serves as vice chair of the Tarrant County Elections Commission, which handles appointment, acceptance of resignation or recommendation for termination of the election administrator.
Both candidates noted a shared goal of cutting costs while maximizing efficiency in the county clerk’s office. They differed on how they would do it.
Bean said she would look into the technology, especially TechShare, a court software program that cost taxpayers $26 million and was in development for a decade.
“That’s the kind of opportunity where we need to make sure our taxpayer dollars are being used productively, and that’s where I would bring that fresh perspective and a more data analysis background as someone with a Ph.D. to really make sure our taxpayer dollars are being stewarded effectively,” Bean said.
Nicholson said she has 143 team members trained to serve and provide secure records for residents. They are the reason her office is cost efficient, she said.
“We have managed to harness technology and put more office resources and records online to make them affordable,” Nicholson said.
The two candidates shared different approaches to the office’s Tarrant County Elections Commission duties.
Bean said the closure of nearly one-third of polling locations — including those near Black and Latino neighborhoods and colleges — close to the Nov. 3 election has created political pressure on the election department.
“As the vice chair of the county election commission and the deciding vote, I will make sure that we can have a nonpartisan elections administration that does not feel that pressure,” Bean said.
Texas law limits the Tarrant County Elections Commission’s powers, Nicholson said.
“I do not, under Texas law, have anything to do with the Tarrant County elections,” Nicholson said. “That is handled by our county election administrator.”
Kamal Morgan is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at kamal@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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