The mayors of 10 cities in Tarrant County, including Fort Worth and Arlington, have signed a letter urging County Judge Tim O’Hare to “strongly consider” delaying a June 3 vote on redrawing voting precincts.
The letter, dated May 23, calls the county’s five proposed precinct maps flawed and in violation of state and federal law. The mayors ask O’Hare to put off redistricting until the county has more accurate, up-to-date demographic information — or, at minimum, “[takes the] time to scrutinize each of the proposed maps.”
Tarrant County commissioners are moving swiftly on redistricting, a process that typically takes six months to a year to conclude. They hired a consultant in April and received five proposed maps in May. A round of public meetings across the county drew hundreds of people who opposed the maps and have threatened legal action.
Among the chief concerns are that the maps are racially gerrymandered and that the process has been rushed in time for the 2026 election cycle, when O’Hare, Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons and Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez’s seats are up for grabs. Ramirez, a Republican, has said race has played no role in the redistricting process.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said city attorneys and a third party looked into the legality of the redistricting and found “a whole gamut” of issues. Ross met with the nine other mayors to lay out the findings, ranging from Voting Rights Act violations to the use of outdated population data.
Ross said he called O’Hare’s office to give him a heads up about the letter.
“I expressed that if they don’t pull it from the June 3 agenda, that myself and the other affected mayors intend to show up and voice our opposition in person about the redistricting attempts,” Ross told the Star-Telegram. “And his response was, ‘We’re not pulling anything. I guess I’ll see you on June 3.’”
Ross said he also called the other commissioners but did not say what their reaction was. Two of the five commissioners are Democrats and have voiced opposition to redistricting.
Simmons said in a statement to the Star-Telegram that she commends the mayors’ courage.
“Their unity letter reflects what so many residents already understand: this process is not only legally questionable and morally wrong — it is fiscally irresponsible,” Simmons said.
She said the redistricting should be undertaken after the 2030 census, and that the proposed maps are intentionally discriminatory. Simmons also said legal challenges “are looming” and that the price of the litigation will be paid for by the public, “not by those responsible.”
O’Hare and the other commissioners did not immediately respond to the Star-Telegram‘s request for comment Friday.
Tarrant County mayors
In addition to Ross, the mayors who signed the letter are Mattie Parker of Fort Worth, Michael Evans of Mansfield, Laurie Bianco of Dalworthington Gardens, Stephanie Boardingham of Forest Hill, Russ Brewster of Pantego, Sammye Bartley of Edgecliff Village, Ron Jensen of Grand Prairie, Ray Richardson of Everman and An Truong of Haltom City.
Earlier in the week, Parker voted against a Fort Worth City Council resolution to formally oppose the county redistricting. She stressed her vote was not an endorsement of redistricting, but solely a vote against the city’s resolution, which ed 6-4.
On Friday, Parker said that she believes the council resolution was not the best tactic to address what Tarrant County commissioners are proposing.
“If I had been afforded the opportunity to review the redistricting (council resolution) from four of my council member colleagues last week ahead of the vote or been ed by them, we could have discussed that this (letter) was in the works and that this is the legal counsel we’ve been receiving in cooperation with the city of Arlington,” Parker said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.
“In my opinion, this (letter from mayors) is the smarter legal tactic overall,” she said.
Parker’s statement stressed the importance of intergovernmental cooperation, while singling out Commissioner Ramirez and recently elected Precinct 1 Commissioner Roderick Miles for their collaboration with the city on issues surrounding homelessness, veterans, public safety and economic development.
“It is of utmost importance to me that our local government continues to have respectful debate and discourse on the issues that matter most in our community,” she said.
Tarrant County began the redistricting process on April 2 when it hired Public Interest Legal Foundation to redraw the precinct lines. The county is represented by four precinct commissioners and one county judge, who serves Tarrant County as a whole.
About a month later, the law firm presented the five maps to the commissioners. Each was drawn by Adam Kincaid, executive director and president of National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates “the GOP’s 50-state redistricting effort.” Voting trend data shows that all of the proposed maps would favor Republicans.
The mayors’ letter said Kincaid’s maps are “flawed” in violation of the law.
“There is significant concern that the five proposed maps are not only contrary to provision in state law but could be subject to a legal challenge in the form of a lawsuit brought under the non-discrimination standard of Section 2 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act,” the letter reads.
Redistricting typically happens right after decennial census data is released, in order to use the most current population data. With a mid-decade redistricting, which Republicans are saying is necessary due to county growth, the mayors say the population date is already outdated.
“As we are all aware, Tarrant County has experienced significant growth in recent years and until the next decennial U.S. Census (2030) we will not know how these changes have impacted the demographics for the County and therefore question the current need for a redistricting process,” the letter reads.
The letter also points out a legal flaw in the proposed maps having territory from more than one commissioner precinct in an election precinct.
A third concern in the letter is that the proposed maps violate the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which, among other things, prohibits districting practices “resulting in packing minorities into a single district in an effort to limit their voting strength that might otherwise be influential in other districts.”
When overlaid with a map of the minority percentage in voting age population, the proposed maps all show Precinct 1 outlining most of the minority voter-heavy voting districts. The document below was ed out at Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons’s Redistricting Town Hall.
By RACHEL ROYSTER, HARRISON MANTAS, Fort Worth Star-Telegram