Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons and Republican incumbent Tim O’Hare are opponents in the race for Tarrant County judge. Election Day is Nov. 3, 2026.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives
Walk into any protest, club meeting or Commissioners Court public comment session with a large Democratic presence in Tarrant County, and you’re sure to hear about their poster child for the November election: Alisa Simmons.
The 63-year-old activist-turned-politician from Arlington has served parts of southern Tarrant County as commissioner for the past three and a half years. After Republicans piloted a redistricting effort to make it harder for a Democrat to win her seat, Simmons set her sights on county judge. The post is held by Republican Tim O’Hare of Southlake.
Where Simmons is the victor of the Tarrant County Democrats, O’Hare is the villain. Hyper-engaged Democrats regard her as their spokeswoman on the majority-Republican Commissioners Court.
Some Commissioners Court regulars have nicknamed O’Hare “O’Hate” and the “tyrant” of Tarrant County. One woman who has attended more recently says Simmons over-politicizes decisions to help her political ambitions.
The bickering between O’Hare and Simmons is a fixture of nearly every Commissioners Court meeting and now, their contest for the top seat in the county.
O’Hare has the upper hand financially, having out-raised Simmons nearly 10-to-1, and has a record of leading the charge for tax cuts. But the Tarrant Democratic base seems to be more determined to win the county seat.
Tarrant County is frequently touted by conservatives as the largest red urban county in the nation, but Democrats have teased that the county is bound to flip in their favor. Whichever party comes out on top in the county judge race could determine if Tarrant is red, blue or purple.
As Election Day draws near, Republicans’ unease at the safety of O’Hare’s seat raises the question: is the push for a Democratic county judge fueled by a love of Simmons or a loathing of the current leader? And is this the year Democrats take Tarrant County?
Democrats’ disdain for O’Hare
Three things are at play in the support for Simmons, Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo said. Two of those fall on the shoulders of O’Hare.
The first she noted was that there are significant consequences for O’Hare’s time on the dais.
With O’Hare at the helm, the county has redistricted, gone from meeting four times to once a month, privatized rent and utility assistance, reduced the number of polling locations, and seen a steady stream of jail inmate deaths continue.
“There are real political repercussions that bother people in real time because it affects their lives in a big negative way,” Campolo said.
The second piece is how O’Hare conducts the Commissioners Court meetings.
“He instituted these crazy rules of decorum, which I’m not sure are totally compliant with the First Amendment,” Campolo said. “Like it goes on and on with just the way he socially runs his courtroom and makes it hard for the community to interact with Commissioners Court.”
O’Hare has ejected over a dozen people from the monthly meetings for disruptions in 2026, two of whom were arrested and face criminal charges.
“Contrary to what some of you may think, I have no interest whatsoever in throwing people out of a room,” O’Hare said at the Aug. 4 meeting when he told the public to clear the chambers because of their continual disruptions. “I have no interest whatsoever in having any disruptions. But if we have more disruptions, we’re going to do it again. We’re going to clear it out. Why don’t we all avoid that?”
The third leg, Campolo said, is that Simmons is “a stunning candidate.”
“Even when it was outside of her commissioner precinct, even when she wasn’t running for judge, she went to bat for people all over the county,” Campolo said. “And you know, people see that this commissioner is always standing up for them, always offering any amendment, anything that’s going to be passed, offering any comment, offering any expertise, asking the community to come and participate in government, which is the absolute antithesis of Tim O’Hare.”
Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons joins protesters outside of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court chambers after they are kicked out on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Though there have been regular attendees at Commissioners Court for years, a growing number of people in alignment with Simmons are becoming frequent flyers. They often register to speak in public comment, host rallies about upcoming court deliberations and hold signs shaming the Republican majority’s decisions.
Steven Lawrence, a Tarrant County resident who considers himself independent of political parties, said the county is “under siege” and O’Hare is the figurehead. Lawrence only recently began attending Commissioners Court regularly, but believes it imperative for “normal people” to step up and get involved in local politics.
His request for the 2027 county judge is “just to listen to citizens and let them speak in public — and that appears to be a big ask right now.” Lawrence supports Simmons because he believes she will follow the Constitution and keep the county out of frivolous lawsuits.
Simmons said more residents have tapped into the meetings because of the decisions coming from the dais.
“I think people have started to realize the importance of local government, particularly county government,” Simmons said. “This Commissioners Court has made some very harmful decisions over the course of the past three and a half, four years.”
The people want someone who will listen and be responsive to them, Simmons said.
“If elected, when elected, I look forward to continuing to work with the taxpayers,” she said. “It’s not hard that the people elected you to their seats, and so that’s who you take your orders from.”
Campolo expects to see quite a few Republicans cast their ballot in favor of Democrats in the county judge race. She pointed to the fact that many Republicans and independents sign up for public comment and speak about varying issues Democrats also have problems with.
Community members hold up signs opposing the proposed cuts of voting sites on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Namely, they mention that public comment time has shrunk from what it once was and how inaccessible the meetings are for working people. Commissioners Court meetings are on the second Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. and can go on for the majority of the work day.
“It’s as inconvenient as possible, and a lot of Republicans, independents, and libertarians really detest that,” Campolo said. “It really is totally antithetical to the way they feel government should be run. And then we’ve seen other things, whether it be polling locations or the mid-decade gerrymander.”
Recently, there have been a few more Republicans showing up to support O’Hare and the Republican commissioners, but those aligned with Simmons typically outnumber them.
Campolo said as the party has been out door-knocking and connecting with voters, it has learned many are already aware of the county judge race because of the decisions that have been made.
“There are candidates running, precinct chairs signed up and volunteers engaged who specifically got activated as a negative reaction to Tim O’Hare. I came back as county chair as a reaction to Tim O’Hare,” Campolo said. “He has driven so many people into the arms of the Democratic Party, I should send him a gift basket.”
The Republican focus
Although James Talarico has energized the base during his campaign for U.S. Senate, the Tarrant County Democratic Party has been driving engagement to down ballot candidates with the mindset that anyone going to the polls to vote for Simmons will likely vote for Talarico.
At a True Texas Project meeting earlier this month, O’Hare was sounding the alarms, worried about the safety of his seat. But many of the conversations surrounding the election at Republican events seem to be dominated by how to fend off Talarico from winning the Senate seat.
At O’Hare’s fall campaign kick off, keynote speaker and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas spent the majority of his time on stage discussing the threat Texas faces if Talarico wins in November.
In his initial campaign for county judge in 2022, O’Hare won by a somewhat close margin. He defeated Democrat and now-Fort Worth council member Deborah Peoples by 6 percentage points. Before leading the county, O’Hare was chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party and mayor of Farmer Branch in Dallas County.
Some of his supporters at the fall event said they weren’t sure O’Hare would come out on top again.
Danny Reynolds, a Republican, has known O’Hare personally since he led the 2020 effort against diversity, equity and inclusion in the Southlake Carroll school district. Reynolds thinks electing Simmons would be a huge step back for the county but said he can only hope Republicans turn out to vote.
Donna Hancock thinks Simmons is a “complete nut job” and vowed to vote O’Hare into the county judge seat every time he’s willing to do the job. But she agrees with Reynolds’ concern that there may not be enough energy in the Republican’s base to reelect him while the Democrats seem to have an unwavering determination.
County Judge Tim O’Hare is pictured during the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
O’Hare is campaigning for reelection on the slogan “promises made, promises kept.” He vowed in 2022 to cut property taxes by 20%, support law enforcement and ensure integrity in elections.
While he’s been in office, the property tax rate has fallen from 22.4 cents to 18.6 cents per $100 valuation. The commissioners also added a homestead exemption of 20%, the state maximum. Law enforcement officers employed by the county have received pay raises.
There have been no cases of widespread voter fraud in Tarrant County before or since O’Hare’s election.
O’Hare wants to continue to lower property taxes, keep Tarrant the safest large county in Texas and prioritize transportation funding. He alleged if Simmons wins, the residents will see taxes rise and more crime and homelessness across the county.
Simmons’s campaign pillars are public safety, healthcare, help for low-income families and open, responsible government. She voted for tax cuts until she felt the budget reductions had gone past cutting fat and began digging into the bone.
All eyes on Tarrant County
The race between Simmons and O’Hare is about more than just Tarrant County taxes and popularity of the county judge.
There are a handful of Texas counties critical to the 2026 election cycle, and Tarrant is among the top, University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said.
“This is a major test of whether Tarrant County is actually becoming blue like the rest of the big urban centers in Texas,” Rottinghaus said. “Tarrant County is clearly no longer safely Republican, but countywide races are often a good test of partisan change because there’s less national candidate baggage.”
Because of how the election cycles are set up in Texas, county judges across the state are elected on even years without a presidential election. Thus, the races are not swayed by the wave of voters electing their presidential candidate of choice. Although President Donald Trump, in an effort to push turnout, told voters to pretend he’s on the November ballot.
Tarrant County’s race will also be a referendum on how the electorate likes O’Hare’s style of leading, not just Republican policies.
“This campaign will give voters a pretty clean choice between an aggressively-run ideological county government and Simmons’s argument for a less partisan county administration,” Rottinghaus said.
The fact that Simmons and O’Hare frequently butt heads publicly makes the race even more compelling to onlookers, Rottinghaus said.
“It’s interesting to me because this is a race that pits these two candidates together who have political beef,” he said. “Sometimes there’s no direct beef between two opponents, where you might run against someone because you have policy or ideological objections. Rarely is it personal.”
Election Day is Nov. 3, and the results of the O’Hare vs. Simmons brawl will depend on turnout, according to Rottinghaus.
“It’s a foot race to see who can get the most people to vote.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
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.