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Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, an Arlington Democrat, and County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare, a Southlake Republican, listen to public comment during a Commissioners Court meeting May 7, 2024.<\/p>\n
FortWorth<\/p>\n
This week marked one month until Election Day, which not only means we\u2019re closer to knowing who will come out on top, but also that campaigns filed new finance reports.<\/p>\n
The last reporting period ended in July and showed Republican incumbent Tim O\u2019Hare had outraised Democrat challenger Alisa Simmons 10-to-1<\/a> in the heated race for Tarrant County judge<\/a>. This filing paints a different picture.<\/p>\n First things first, O\u2019Hare outraised Simmons this period by about $80,000. Supporters donated $426,000 to O\u2019Hare and $346,000 to Simmons. But O\u2019Hare had far fewer contributions compared to his opponent.<\/p>\n The Republican still has more cash on hand than the Democrat with $837,000 to her $247,000.<\/p>\n Simmons had about 1,850 contributions, though those don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare received 215 monetary contributions. The average donations were larger than Simmons\u2019, 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\u2019Hare $50,000. Many of the Republican\u2019s supporters were retirees as well.<\/p>\n With that basic knowledge, here are three points of interest from the October campaign finance reports in the Tarrant County judge race.<\/p>\n Out of district donors & PACs<\/p>\n Hundreds of Simmons\u2019 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.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n How they spent that money<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare, having more to pull from, spent more this period than Simmons. O\u2019Hare\u2019s expenditures were $298,000, whereas Simmons\u2019 were $75,000. Both candidates spent the majority of that on advertising, consulting, literature and emails.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare spent $214,000 on social media and advertising, compared to Simmons\u2019s $1,000. O\u2019Hare\u2019s consulting and solicitation budget of $47,000 outpaced Simmons\u2019s $34,000. With emails, O\u2019Hare spent $1,000, which was only about double his opponent\u2019s $550. The Democrat vastly overspent the incumbent for literature and signs with $16,000 to his $5,000.<\/p>\n Campaign tactics<\/p>\n Based on their spending, the two candidates seem to be taking differing paths to Election Day.<\/p>\n Where O\u2019Hare 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.<\/p>\n Simmons has also far outspent O\u2019Hare on traveling with about $1,500 going toward flights, Greyhound bus expenses and Ubers. O\u2019Hare\u2019s travel expenses are primarily for filling up his tank.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare though paid individuals a collective $16,000 for canvassing, whereas Simmons doesn\u2019t report spending any. This may point to a voluntary model on the Democrat\u2019s part.<\/p>\n Early voting begins Oct. 19, running until Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 12:12 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
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