\n Liberty & Justice Team Night | Image of Joshua Moore, FL&J representative 09\/27\/26 by x.com\/Carlos__Turcios\/X <\/p>\n
Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare (R) is telling churchgoers that too many Christians treat county races as background noise ahead of the November 3 election.<\/p>\n
Speaking September 27 at For Liberty & Justice\u2019s Team Night<\/a> at Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth, where The Dallas Express was present, O\u2019Hare said believers often miss what is at stake locally.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Christians know enough of it. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re aware,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s another election,\u2019 and how does this affect me?\u201d<\/p>\n These comments came after Tarrant County\u2019s May 2 city and school-board elections, which split both ways. As The Dallas Express reported<\/a>, Republican-backed candidates swept North Richland Hills and won the Keller mayor\u2019s race. In Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, three candidates backed by local Republicans lost their trustee races. Those city and school races are officially nonpartisan.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare faces<\/a> Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons (D) for county judge. Both sit on the Commissioners Court.<\/p>\n Also at the gathering were Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Tim Davis and former state Rep. Nate Schatzline, now a senior adviser<\/a> to Gov. Greg Abbott and founder of For Liberty & Justice.<\/p>\n Taxes and the Ten Commandments<\/p>\n During the event, O\u2019Hare used county tax rates and a courthouse Ten Commandments monument to draw a contrast with Simmons.<\/p>\n He cited<\/a> a 17% drop in the county tax rate and a 29.2% drop in the hospital district rate over four years, figures his office repeated in an August budget update<\/a>. Those percentages describe reductions in tax rates, not necessarily reductions in an individual homeowner\u2019s bill. What a homeowner actually pays still depends on appraised value, exemptions and rates set by cities, school districts and other taxing entities.<\/p>\n At the September 1 Commissioners Court meeting, Simmons warned that repeatedly setting hospital district tax rates below the no-new-revenue rate could leave JPS without needed resources, Fort Worth Report reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Later at the same Fort Worth event, O\u2019Hare remarked on Simmons\u2019 vote against a Ten Commandments display at the historic courthouse.<\/p>\n \u201cMy opponent voted against a 10 Commandments monument in front of the courthouse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Commissioners accepted<\/a> the donated Ten Commandments Monument on April 15, 2025, on a 3-1 vote. Simmons cast the dissenting vote, citing church-state concerns. The Dallas Express later reported<\/a> the same split when the monument was dedicated.<\/p>\n Schatzline ties voting to Christian convictions<\/p>\n Schatzline urged attendees to weigh religious and moral issues when voting.<\/p>\n \u201cLast time I checked, telling a child that they\u2019re not the gender that God created them to be is not loving thy neighbor,\u201d Schatzline told attendees.<\/p>\n \u201cLast time I checked, saying that God is non-binary is not exactly loving God the Father. Last time I checked, looking at a pre-born child and saying the Lord blesses abortion isn\u2019t exactly loving thy neighbor,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n As The Dallas Express previously reported<\/a>, state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50), the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, has said \u201cGod is nonbinary\u201d and argued that the Bible permits abortion. That report examined those claims against Scripture and historic Christian teaching.<\/p>\n CAIR targets Texas voters<\/p>\n Beyond the Fort Worth gathering, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is organizing voter outreach in Texas following Abbott\u2019s November 18, 2025, designation<\/a> of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas law. Abbott\u2019s office said the action prohibits the organizations from purchasing or acquiring land in the state.<\/p>\n Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) followed with a February 5 lawsuit<\/a> seeking to stop CAIR, its Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth chapters, and the Muslim Brotherhood from operating in Texas. CAIR disputes the terrorism allegations, and its Texas chapters challenged<\/a> Abbott\u2019s designation in federal court.<\/p>\n CAIR lists Texas among 12 priority states in its 2026 election plan<\/a>, part of a national campaign seeking to mobilize 3 million more American Muslim voters. Its plan includes voter registration drives at mosques, college outreach and trips to polling places after Friday prayers.<\/p>\n CAIR describes that campaign as nonpartisan and says it does not endorse or oppose candidates. Its separately organized advocacy affiliate, CAIR Action, makes candidate recommendations. Its 2026 Texas primary guide<\/a> recommended state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50) for U.S. Senate and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-District 49) for governor.<\/p>\n Calls for churches to lead<\/p>\n Arizona Christian University researcher George Barna criticized churches for disengaging from elections in an October 8, 2024, statement<\/a>. He called it \u201ctroubling that so many churches have distanced themselves from the election.\u201d<\/p>\n Failing to educate congregants about voting was \u201can embarrassment,\u201d J.C. Church, pastor of Victory In Truth Ministries in Ohio, said in an October 14, 2024, report<\/a> by American Family News.<\/p>\n For Prestonwood Baptist Church Senior Pastor Jack Graham, encouraging informed voting is part of a pastor\u2019s responsibility to teach the Bible and morality. He explained that approach in a separate interview<\/a> published May 19, 2026, by The Korea Times.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re salt, and salt is no good if it\u2019s just in the salt shaker,\u201d Graham said. \u201cAs a pastor, I know I don\u2019t endorse political candidates, but I preach the Bible and I teach morality, and I encourage our people at our church to vote and to be involved in the process, to be an informed voter.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham also warned that pastors who avoid contemporary moral and ethical questions miss an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.<\/p>\n