Tarrant County judge pushes conservative viewpoints

Tarrant County's top official once created a political action committee to promote conservative city and school board candidates in Southlake.

Why it matters: Tim O'Hare's rise in one of the country's largest counties exemplifies what happens when far-right Republicans make it to top positions in local government, the Texas Tribune and ProPublica report .

• This election could expand O'Hare's power in Tarrant County. Two of the five county commission seats are open after incumbents decided not to run again.

Catch up fast: O'Hare was a Farmers Branch City Council member and then mayor. While mayor, he pushed for an ordinance that would have prevented landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. The city faced a barrage of lawsuits and the ordinance was never implemented.

• O'Hare and his family later moved to Southlake, and he became involved in the city's debate over critical race theory . He was the Tarrant County GOP chair before taking office as county judge in 2023.

The intrigue: Tarrant County voted for Democrats Beto O'Rourke in the 2018 Senate race and Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.

• But O'Hare's campaign for county judge, with backing from oil billionaires and evangelical churches, highlighted that far-right Republicans still hold political clout.

Context: The county judge presides over the commissioners court, which oversees the county budget, jail, tax rates, sheriff's office and other county offices.

• As county judge, O'Hare has tried to advance conservative viewpoints on election integrity. He sparred with the county's election administrator who eventually resigned , tried to keep college campuses from serving as early voting sites and questioned local nonprofits that serve underrepresented communities.

Friction point: O'Hare's views have, at times, caused disagreements within the Tarrant County GOP.

• Last year, the commissioners court rejected sending state funds for Girls Inc. of Tarrant County after some residents complained that the organization supported LGBTQ issues and abortion rights.
• Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, also a Republican, said she was disappointed by the vote and later joined the nonprofit's advisory committee .