Republican incumbent Tim O'Hare has conceded the race for Tarrant County judge to Democrat Alisa Simmons, a result that would end four decades of Republican control over the county's top executive office. Simmons told supporters that O'Hare called her around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to offer his congratulations, as the county's highest-profile contest broke sharply in her favor after one of the most closely watched midterm cycles in recent Texas history.
According to the Star-Telegram, Tim O'Hare has conceded in the race for his reelection, granting Democrat Alisa Simmons the win. The paper reported that O'Hare called around 7:30 p.m. to congratulate her, Simmons said. Separately, NBCDFW reported Simmons had received 57.7% of the vote, or 327,684 votes, compared with O'Hare's 42.3%, or 240,266 votes, though the station cautioned that the race remains subject to final vote counting and certification.
O'Hare has been county judge since Jan. 1, 2023, while Simmons has served as Precinct 2 commissioner for the same tenure, the Star-Telegram's report notes. If the result holds through certification, Simmons would begin her term on Jan. 1, 2027, and serve through Dec. 31, 2030. The Star-Telegram also reports that Simmons is the first Democrat to win the top seat in Tarrant County in 40 years — a seat last held by a Democrat, Mike Moncrief, before he left office in 1986, according to the Texas Tribune.
A Battle Over Maps and District Lines
The race unfolded against the backdrop of a contentious 2025 redistricting fight. The Tribune reports that O'Hare led the effort to redraw Tarrant County Commissioners Court districts, seeking to create a 4-1 Republican advantage by increasing GOP-aligned voters in Simmons' own district. The three Republican members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court said their goal was a 4-1 majority, per the Star-Telegram's reporting.
The resulting map, known as Map 7, was adopted by a 3-2 vote, according to CBS Texas. The station reported that the map shifted the county's precinct balance from two Republican-majority and two Democratic-majority precincts to three Republican-majority precincts and just one Democratic-majority precinct. It also changed the racial makeup from two majority-minority districts to only one majority-minority and three majority-white districts, CBS Texas found. Simmons has said the redistricting discriminated against Black and Latino voters, according to the Tribune's reporting.
Record Turnout Reshapes the Battleground
Tarrant County drew 571,950 in-person early voters this midterm — 47% more than in 2022, according to the Star-Telegram's separate turnout analysis. That same report found the number of in-person early voters was 32% higher than in 2018, and that roughly 26,000 more Democratic Party-aligned voters turned out early than Republican-aligned voters statewide. The Fort Worth Report similarly noted the county had the highest turnout in county history for early voting in a midterm cycle.
The county judge race wasn't the only one trending toward Democrats. After early results were in, all three Democrats were leading over their Republican opponents in the commissioners court races, the Star-Telegram reported. The ballot this year also included contests for district attorney and Precincts 2 and 4, according to KERA.
Analysts Had Called the Race a Toss-Up
Ahead of Election Day, political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus predicted an O'Hare win, according to the Fort Worth Report's earlier analysis. But fellow political scientist Cal Jillson offered a different read on the national mood, telling the outlet, “This is a distinctively hard year for Republicans across the country and will be in Tarrant County as well.”
O'Hare's political career included stints as mayor of Farmers Branch from 2008 to 2011 and chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party from 2016 to 2018, the Star-Telegram reported. He first won the county judge seat by defeating then-Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price in the 2022 Republican primary, after describing her as a “Republican in name only,” according to the Tribune. His tenure also included efforts opposing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools and nonprofits, the Tribune noted.
Simmons, for her part, led the Arlington NAACP before joining the Tarrant County Commissioners Court in 2022, per the Tribune's reporting. Her time on the court included friction with O'Hare, including a 2024 commissioners court meeting where she objected to the hiring of a government contractor, and an exchange in which O'Hare told her to “sit there and be quiet,” according to the Tribune.
