Fort Worth Inc.
On Thursday, Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare defended two of the most controversial items on recent Commissioners Court agendas, saying that more Republican leadership is good for the county and that eliminating certain early-voting and Election Day polling places for the November election was merely an example of the court’s conservative, cost-cutting chops.
On Tuesday, the court voted to trim early-voting places to 33, from 44 in 2023—the most recent comparable election—and locations on Election Day from 330 in 2023 to 214.
Tarrant County elections administrator Clint Ludwig said the effort to reduce polling stations would save in the neighborhood of $1 million. Commissioners ultimately did not trim as many locations as Ludwig proposed.
The county judge bristled at critics’ suggestions that the court’s action represents voter suppression or restriction.
“It's 10,000 bucks a pop to have a polling location. And when you have literally polling locations across the street from polling locations, only Democrats can come up with that's necessary,” O’Hare said. “We're saving money. It's unlimited other people's money. They don't mind spending on anything and everything. This is a smart, prudent decision.
“And people in Texas have 12 days to early vote. I think the new law passed as the polls have to be open 12 hours each of those days. So, we've actually expanded the number of hours they're open. There's so many different ways to vote [including mail-ins, which he mentioned], but they're same cries of ‘you’re making it hard to vote.’ I don’t think people buy it.”
The 12-hour state legislative mandate applies to the main early voting location during the weekdays of the final week for primaries and general elections. For special elections ordered by the governor, polls must remain open the final two days for 12 hours, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
O’Hare made the comments during a session with reporters after his annual State of the County address and Q&A at the Hilton Fort Worth downtown. The event is put on by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. After delivering his remarks, O’Hare conducted a Q&A with Sheriff Bill Waybourn, District Attorney Phil Sorrells, and County Clerk Mary Louise Nicholson.
In his remarks during the noontime luncheon, O'Hare encouraged cities in the county to elect candidates who take a business-minded approach to governing.
“I don’t believe government creates jobs,” O’Hare said to close to 500 in attendance in the Hilton ballroom. “I believe entrepreneurs and business owners create jobs. But what government officials can do is put things in place and eliminate things that are in place that make it easier for the job creator to create jobs.”
O’Hare appeared eager to spar afterward with the few reporters gathered in front of him. When an aide tried to close down the questioning for time, as they always do, O’Hare said, “No, no. I don’t mind. Keep going. What else?”
A year ago at this forum, O’Hare—then and still, with the sheriff, under fire because of deaths in the Tarrant County jails—suggested that the county desperately needed more facilities to care for inmates suffering from addiction and mental health crises. Waybourn addressed that during the Q&A, saying a large proportion of inmates in the jail suffer from both.
The judge said progress had been made there through funding that had come in through the 2023 legislative session that allowed the county to partner with a privately run hospital in Arlington that could serve 100–200 people a year. Funding from the 2025 session will add 50 more beds, he said, essentially doubling the number of people served a year.
O’Hare also said he expects better access to the state hospital in Wichita Falls, Tarrant County’s designated state mental health hospital. Moreover, the judge said he was hopeful that a new statewide policy shift toward private providers, rather than building new state hospitals, is a positive step.
To no one’s surprise, O’Hare also said he fully embraced the Legislature’s efforts to redistrict mid-decennial.
“You've seen the stats on these Democrat states with some of 'em 40-something percent Republican voters and no House members,” O’Hare said. “So yeah, I'm glad Texas did it and if there's a way to do more next time, sign me up. I'm all for it.”
Tarrant County, of course, was ahead of the curve on this. In June, the Commissioners Court ran through mid-decade redistricting of the county’s precinct borders in a move designed to add a Republican to the court. It was led by O’Hare and two Republican colleagues on the court — Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez.
It was sold as an intentional packing of the court to ensure another “conservative” member on it. Under scrutiny by critics, O’Hare asserted that had the shoe been on the other foot and Democrats had the same opportunity, they would take it.
That much is certainly true.
It made one wonder what other “great” Democrat ideas might appear on a Tarrant County Commissioners Court agenda. It also stinks of Democrat schemes to pack the U.S. Supreme Court. One questioner on Thursday asked for O’Hare's response to that.
“Well, there's a lot of different directions you can go with that one,” O’Hare said. “We have a two-party system, and if one party is regularly doing it in counties and states, and if the other party doesn't respond, then things get lopsided. Are Republicans supposed to say, ‘Y'all do it and we just won't?’ Is there anyone in their right mind who thinks if you just went to the Democrats and said, ‘Hey, this isn't fair; why don't you do it fair? that anybody would change a thing? We know they wouldn't.
“Ultimately, the other part of that is I 100% believe that Republicans do a better job of running government entities and agencies. So, the more we have, I think the better off everyone will be.”
He used as an example the Commissioners Court, by a vote of 4–1, shutting down the county’s Department of Human Services on the basis that it was inefficient and ineffective. According to the county’s own data, the department cost $2.5 million to operate but spent $1 million for direct aid. The county is now partnering with an outside agency that O’Hare said “will double the money going to people in need.”
“And we're going to do it for $1.8 million less,” he said. “Why wouldn't everyone be for that? It's totally nonsensical. But they just want to cry about what Republicans do all the time. This is better for the people they claim to represent. If they really were interested in helping more people in need, lower income, they would be behind this. And we did have one [Democrat Roderick Miles Jr.] on our court that was for it.
“So that's my response.”