{"id":151469,"date":"2026-02-05T01:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151469\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T01:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:59:29","slug":"does-democratic-win-spell-trouble-for-tarrant-countys-gop-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151469\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Democratic win spell trouble for Tarrant County\u2019s GOP?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tarrant County Republicans may have a rough season heading toward the Nov. 3 midterm elections, political analysts and party officials said after the GOP suffered a high-profile loss in the Texas Senate District 9 runoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Democratic Party leaders say state Sen.-elect Taylor Rehmet\u2019s 13-point win will bolster momentum heading into midterm elections, but GOP organizers say it\u2019s too soon to say that Leigh Wambsganss\u2019 loss is a sign of trouble ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing anything is possible,\u201d said Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, adding that Rehmet\u2019s win is \u201cone of the biggest swings\u201d since Trump got reelected.<\/p>\n

The Jan. 31 Texas Senate runoff drew national attention, with both parties looking for a prophetic sign of which way the country could swing as state and federal representatives campaign ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Tarrant County, often considered one of the largest red counties in the United States but showing occasional signs of trending purple, is a reliable indicator of the nation\u2019s political climate, said Keith Gaddie, a political science professor at Texas Christian University.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a good situation for the Republicans,\u201d Gaddie said of Rehmet\u2019s win. \u201cBut the good news for them is: This is (February), which means there\u2019s time to course correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, President Donald Trump won the historically red district that covers a large swath of north and west Tarrant County by more than 17 points.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s election was largely ceremonial. Rehmet\u2019s win only secured the seat for the remainder of former Sen. Kelly Hancock\u2019s term, which ends in January before the next legislative session begins. Hancock resigned in June to be acting state comptroller<\/a>, triggering the special election.<\/p>\n

Rehmet and Wambsganss are set for a rematch in November, and the winner will serve a full, four-year term. Both candidates are running unopposed in the March 3 primary election.<\/p>\n

The Tarrant County GOP is \u201cnot panicking\u201d about Wambsganss\u2019 loss, chairman Tim Davis said Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe adjust our strategy every election because we want to be responsive to the electorate,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe want to meet people where they are. We want to make sure that we\u2019re speaking to the issues that matter to them and their families, and so we\u2019re going to keep doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Runoffs and special elections already typically attract lower voter turnout than general elections, Davis noted. This one was in January, after the holidays and a severe winter storm, with the March primaries quickly approaching, he added.<\/p>\n

Still, Davis conceded that the Democratic Party mobilized voters better than the GOP \u2014 \u201cfull recognition of math is math,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gaddie said Republicans\u2019 struggle to attract voters to the polls points to an \u201centhusiasm gap\u201d within those the GOP has previously relied on for turnout.<\/p>\n

Between Trump\u2019s recent use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in some major cities and what Gaddie called \u201cconstant chaos in both economic policy and foreign policy,\u201d Republicans are fatigued, the professor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had a general election under these circumstances with these two candidates, we should have seen this result based on the environment as it stands right now,\u201d Gaddie said, shrugging off some GOP notions that Rehmet\u2019s performance was the result of weather and timing.<\/p>\n

The election saw 15% of registered voters turn out, compared to about 19% on Nov. 4.<\/p>\n

Campolo said her party and Rehmet\u2019s campaign organized strategically and collaboratively with other political groups \u2014 such as Tarrant County Young Democrats, the state\u2019s and other counties\u2019 Democratic parties, primary candidates and current elected officials \u2014 to increase voter turnout.<\/p>\n

For example, they invested in Fort Worth\u2019s Northside \u201cmore than we ever have in the past,\u201d Campolo said, highlighting the campaign\u2019s bilingual messaging in Spanish and increased block walking in the predominantly Latino neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor maybe the first time in a long time, we\u2019re seeing investments into the Latino community really pay off,\u201d Campolo said.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth resident Damiya Pentecost voted for Rehmet at the Southside Community Center on Saturday morning. She said the Air Force veteran and labor union leader connected deeply with constituents like her who wanted \u201csomething different\u201d from their representatives.<\/p>\n

Up until Saturday, District 9 had been reliably red since 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results,\u201d Pentecost said. \u201cWe have to be very vocal through the election process in making sure that our voices are heard and that we hold people accountable even after they\u2019re elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campolo attributed Rehmet\u2019s win to the candidates\u2019 vastly differing campaigns.<\/p>\n

Early into campaign season, Wambsganss took a heavily partisan stance, branding herself as \u201cultra MAGA\u201d and touting endorsements from Trump. Her campaign spent $3.2 million, funded primarily by Republican political action committees, or PACS, and West Texas oil tycoons. That number includes $785,998 non-monetary contributions like mailers and text campaigns,<\/p>\n

Rehmet ran a comparatively low-budget campaign, spending $531,331, including $286,600 in non-monetary contributions. His messaging on affordability and working-class Texans \u201creally resonated with Democrats,\u201d Campolo said, while also appealing to Republicans tired of partisan politics or unenamored with the GOP candidate\u2019s MAGA persona.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, local and state GOP leaders called on Tarrant County Republicans to mobilize<\/a> ahead of what they called the \u201cmost important (elections) of our lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot afford to lose what is the most important county in the entire country,\u201d Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare told the crowd at a \u201cnight of action\u201d hosted by Mercy Culture Church. \u201cAnd last night, we got our butts kicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rehmet\u2019s win against the financial odds signaled to Davis that the GOP has to raise money aggressively and spend it efficiently, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it was so much of a battle of dollars as it was turnout and just whose base was going to go and vote,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Wambsganss\u2019 position as an executive with the conservative mobile carrier Patriot Mobile drew scrutiny throughout the campaign trail as well, observers noted. A decadeslong GOP activist, Wambsganss gained notoriety in north Tarrant County in 2022 when she helped lead a Republican push to elect Christian conservatives to school boards in northeast Tarrant County, which became an epicenter for culture wars over what books and lessons<\/a> were available.<\/p>\n

Wambsganss\u2019 reputation in north Tarrant, coupled with extreme partisanship in the county, helped Democrats mobilize voters, Campolo said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Republican county commissioners redrew their district lines<\/a> to favor GOP candidates in a mid-decade redistricting process Democrats decried as racial gerrymandering intended to dilute the power of voters of color.<\/p>\n

Voters then saw O\u2019Hare and his Republican colleagues cut polling sites<\/a>. They said the reductions were intended to save money and resources but critics worried they would limit accessibility for progressive voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans, keep, keep, keep kicking the anthill and this is what\u2019s going to happen, is they\u2019re going to activate Democrats,\u201d Campolo said.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth resident James Smith braved the winter weather to vote right when polls opened Saturday at the Summerglen Library. He said he voted for Rehmet because the local GOP is \u201cin shambles.\u201d<\/p>\n

In past elections, Smith has voted for Republicans and Democrats depending on their values. For now, he doesn\u2019t see himself supporting GOP candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a different change of direction, and until (Republicans) fix their platform, I\u2019m going to vote for people who help the local communities do better for every individual,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tarrant County Republicans may have a rough season heading toward the Nov. 3 midterm elections, political analysts and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-151469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}