Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, an Arlington Democrat, and County Judge Tim O’Hare, a Southlake Republican, listen to public comment during a Commissioners Court meeting May 7, 2024.
FortWorth
This week marked one month until Election Day, which not only means we’re closer to knowing who will come out on top, but also that campaigns filed new finance reports.
The last reporting period ended in July and showed Republican incumbent Tim O’Hare had outraised Democrat challenger Alisa Simmons 10-to-1 in the heated race for Tarrant County judge. This filing paints a different picture.
First things first, O’Hare outraised Simmons this period by about $80,000. Supporters donated $426,000 to O’Hare and $346,000 to Simmons. But O’Hare had far fewer contributions compared to his opponent.
The Republican still has more cash on hand than the Democrat with $837,000 to her $247,000.
Simmons had about 1,850 contributions, though those don’t all equate to one donor. Most of those contributions were small, with a few outlying donations that were in the thousands. North Richland Hills real estate developer Walter E. Horton gave her $98,000 across multiple contributions. Many of her other donors work in social work, education, healthcare, business or are retired.
O’Hare received 215 monetary contributions. The average donations were larger than Simmons’, and his base is largely made up of people in the law, real estate, oil and gas and investment fields. Dallas Developer Mehrdad Moayedi gave O’Hare $50,000. Many of the Republican’s supporters were retirees as well.
With that basic knowledge, here are three points of interest from the October campaign finance reports in the Tarrant County judge race.
Out of district donors & PACs
Hundreds of Simmons’ donors live in other states or counties other than Tarrant, though most of her contributions came from inside the district. Beyond Texas, Simmons had over 200 donations from 38 states. The most were in California and New York. In Texas, she had about 160 donations from Austin, Dallas and Houston.
O’Hare’s campaign benefitted from multiple donations by political action committees, but the largest was $100,000 from Texans United for a Conservative Majority, which was started and funded by West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.
How they spent that money
O’Hare, having more to pull from, spent more this period than Simmons. O’Hare’s expenditures were $298,000, whereas Simmons’ were $75,000. Both candidates spent the majority of that on advertising, consulting, literature and emails.
O’Hare spent $214,000 on social media and advertising, compared to Simmons’s $1,000. O’Hare’s consulting and solicitation budget of $47,000 outpaced Simmons’s $34,000. With emails, O’Hare spent $1,000, which was only about double his opponent’s $550. The Democrat vastly overspent the incumbent for literature and signs with $16,000 to his $5,000.
Campaign tactics
Based on their spending, the two candidates seem to be taking differing paths to Election Day.
Where O’Hare favors in person meetings over meals, Simmons has been pushing her message out on social media. That may be why his contributions from this period are more local and hers span the nation.
Simmons has also far outspent O’Hare on traveling with about $1,500 going toward flights, Greyhound bus expenses and Ubers. O’Hare’s travel expenses are primarily for filling up his tank.
O’Hare though paid individuals a collective $16,000 for canvassing, whereas Simmons doesn’t report spending any. This may point to a voluntary model on the Democrat’s part.
Early voting begins Oct. 19, running until Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 12:12 PM.
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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.