Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons announced today in Arlington that she is seeking to run against County Judge Tim O'Hare.
She has butted heads with O'Hare often since she joined the commissioners court in 2022.
Simmons says she is running for county judge because she believes the current court is too focused on partisan fighting.
"There are so many inefficiencies from IT infrastructure to the jail to MHMR and behavioral health care that need to be addressed," Simmons said. "I need it to be addressed professionally, and it's time that we take a real look at what's happening in this county and work to improve those things and stop all the the political partisanship stuff and get to work."
The Democrat led the Arlington NAACP for more than a decade before she joined the commissioners court in 2022.
Simmons repeatedly has confronted O鈥橦are on a number of issues including jail accountability at the sheriff鈥檚 office, meeting decorum 鈥� and most recently on the county鈥檚 redistricting efforts.
Earlier this year, the Republican majority on the court voted to approve redistricting maps drawn up by the conservative-leaning law firm Public Interest Legal Foundation. Tarrant County鈥檚 southeastern regions saw the most change.
against Black and Latino voters. Citizens and advocacy groups suing the county claimed the maps violated people鈥檚 voting rights. O鈥橦are argued the map was legal and did not violate racial gerrymandering laws.
Both lawsuits were dismissed earlier this month, meaning the new maps will go into effect.
The newly drawn districts appear to favor conservative candidates, including in the reshaped Precinct 2, which made it harder for Simmons to win back her seat. Retiring Republican Texas Rep. Tony Tinderholt announced his bid for the seat in June.
Simmons said she had planned to run for county judge at some point in her career, but the new precinct maps pushed her to run for this election cycle.
"We needed a new county judge," Simmons said. ""But it was before redistricting occurred that I began considering the role. And then of course after redistricting, yes, when you look at how my district was decimated, then it made sense to go ahead and run countywide.鈥�
Simmons and businesswoman Lydia Bean will fight for the Democratic nomination on March 3.
Two other candidates have announced they are seeking to run against O'Hare 鈥擱epublican and Democrat .
The primary election is March 3 and the general election will take place November 2026.
Editor鈥檚 note: This story was updated Dec. 8 to accurately reflect a quote by Alisa鈥檚 Simmons.
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is 四虎影院's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org. 四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members.
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