Tonight’s victory for Democrat Alisa Simmons — supported by a seven-figure independent expenditure by the State + Local Election Alliance — strikes a blow against right-wing voter suppression in Texas’ third-largest county
FORT WORTH — Tonight, in a local race with outsized implications for the electoral future of the Lone Star State, Democrat Alisa Simmons defeated Republican incumbent Tim O’Hare for Tarrant County Judge — unseating a Trump-aligned county leader who made voter suppression the hallmark of his term.
Simmons’ victory was supported by a seven-figure independent expenditure program by the State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA), the only national organization focused on electing pro-democracy candidates to the state and local offices that decide how ballots are cast, counted, certified, and challenged. SLEA, the only major pro-democracy outside spender in this race, mobilized voters with a mail and digital program highlighting Simmons’ record and exposing Tim O’Hare’s efforts to undermine the right to vote. This support helped Simmons overcome O’Hare’s nearly 2-1 fundraising advantage.
Tarrant County - a longtime Republican stronghold and home to Fort Worth - has become more competitive in recent years, with Joe Biden winning a narrow victory in 2020 that reversed decades of Democratic losses. O’Hare and his allies on the County Commission responded with aggressive voter suppression schemes, advancing a mid-decade partisan redistricting to benefit Republican candidates, cutting funding to help low-income voters get rides to the polls, and closing nearly 100 polling places ahead of this year’s midterms.
“Tonight, Tarrant County voters sent an important message: Don’t mess with Texas includes the right to vote,” said Eric Ming, Executive Director of the State and Local Election Alliance. “As Texas has become more electorally competitive, corrupt far-right politicians have pulled out all the stops to prevent voters from casting their ballots. SLEA is proud to have helped to mobilize the voters most affected by Tim O’Hare’s attacks on democracy — who turned out in droves to defeat him. This victory in Texas’ third-largest county is a powerful sign that the electorate is ready for change. Alisa Simmons’ victory is a big win for Tarrant County and every Texas voter who deserves a fair shot at the ballot box.”
The Texas county judge’s office is the county’s top executive position. The county judge presides over the commissioners court, which votes on polling locations and county funding, and chairs the county election commission, which helps select the elections administrator. Simmons’ victory puts an advocate for voting access in a position O’Hare could otherwise have held through the 2028 presidential election.
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