Battle heats up to lead Tarrant County GOP

A new face has emerged in the race to lead the Tarrant County Republican Party.

Longtime GOP activist David Wylie is joining former Farmers Branch Mayor Tim O’Hare in the battle to guide one of the state’s reddest counties next year.

“Getting the right fit is key for the GOP in Tarrant County,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, an associate political science professor at the University of Houston.

“As Tarrant County emerges as a haven for conservative Republicans, the county chair must be able to direct these efforts to promote the party’s regional needs and successes.”

Current Tarrant County GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Hall announced this summer that she won’t seek another term to lead the party next year.

O’Hare, who moved to Southlake with his family last year, was the first to jump into the race.

“I think this race is going to be about leadership ability and executive experience,” the 45-year-old said. “I look forward to talking to voters throughout Tarrant County to let them know about my qualifications.”

Wylie, 52 and a longtime Republican precinct chairman, recently announced at a GOP executive committee meeting that he, too, is joining the race.

“I’ve worked all my life to help build what is the strongest county party in the state,” he said.

Hall, first elected to the post in 2011, said she will serve out her term. The unpaid post will be on the March 1 primary ballot.

Longtime local Republican

Wylie, a computer consultant who has been involved with the Tarrant County Republican Party for decades, said he began thinking about joining the race after Hall announced she wouldn’t seek another term.

And he said a number of activists asked him to consider running.

He announced his plans to join the race recently and said he got a positive, enthusiastic response.

“I want to work with everybody,” he said. “I think it will be a very positive step.

“A contested race will sharpen all the swords.”

Wylie has served as a delegate at every GOP state convention between 1992 and 2014, working on the credentials committee in 2008 and 2010.

He has served as a precinct chairman in Arlington and Mansfield since 1988, staffed victory phone banks, served on candidate recruitment committees and worked in general as a Tarrant County GOP area leader for years.

If elected, he said, his priority is clear.

“I would stay the course and continue to grow the biggest and best county party there is,” he said. “And I’ll continue to recruit more precinct chairs to reach out to voters.”

Newer visionary

O’Hare, an attorney and real estate investor, drew national attention nearly a decade ago when he, as a Farmers Branch councilman, proposed measures to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city, which is in Dallas County.

Among his proposals: fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, requiring English to be the city’s official language and penalizing businesses that hire people in the U.S. illegally.

The proposals prompted lawsuits and appeals, costing the city millions of dollars in legal fees before ultimately being ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.

O’Hare served as a Farmers Branch councilman from 2005 to 2008 and as mayor from 2008 to 2011, before moving with his family to Tarrant County last year. He and his wife said they wanted to raise their three daughters in a red county where they know families with young children.

He said he believes he can bring energy to the party, boost the county’s political influence, broaden the party base and build a database to help turn out GOP votes in small elections.

O’Hare, who said he, too, received a good reaction to his candidacy, has already picked up endorsements from a variety of Tarrant County officials.

“I look forward to the campaign in the coming months,” he said. “Anytime people have a choice, that’s a good thing.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Battle heats up to lead Tarrant County GOP."