Former Tarrant County Republican chair Tim O’Hare says he’s running for county judge
Tim O’Hare, the former Tarrant County Republican Party chair, announced Thursday that he’s running for Tarrant County Judge in 2022.
“People should vote for me because they will always know where I stand,” O’Hare said. “I will do everything I can to make sure Tarrant County remains the incredibly special place that it is.”
Glen Whitley, the county’s current judge, has been in office since 2007 and serves over 2.1 million residents along with the Commissioners Court. During the last year, the spotlight has been on the Whitley and the commissioners as they’ve dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.
Whitley said he’s had conversations about the future of the county and its next chapter of leadership but didn’t say if he would seek reelection or not as his focus is on leading efforts to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, the economy and the end of the Texas legislature. Over the past year, the commissioners enacted emergency policies such as the countywide mask mandate, the closure of businesses and the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
“I look forward to sharing a decision about my next steps with the constituents of Tarrant County, but my focus right now is on these critical priorities,” Whitley said.
O’Hare said while the pandemic has been a once-in-a-lifetime event, people can rest assured that there will be no business closures, church closures or mask mandates if he’s elected.
His priorities are to provide an honest, transparent and representative government, lower property taxes, election integrity and protect the county’s way of life. O’Hare said he’ll bring honesty and truthfulness to the position.
“We are at a time in our nation’s history, where wrong is right, right is wrong, up is down and down is up,” he said. “We need people who will stand up for what is right and who will tell the truth and tell it like it is. And I don’t think we have enough of that.”
Since his announcement, O’Hare has garnered endorsements from Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, Tarrant County District Clerk Tom Wilder, former Tarrant County Commissioner Andy Nguyen, Tarrant GOP chair Rick Barnes,and a slew of state representatives.
O’Hare served as the chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party from 2016 to 2018. He also served as city council member in Farmers Branch for three years and then as mayor from 2008 until 2011. He is the treasure for the Republican Party of Texas and is a personal injury attorney at his law firm.
He also founded the Southlake Families PAC, an organization formed to counter the Critical Race Theory in Southlake schools. The PAC endorsed candidates in Carroll school district and Southlake City Council for the May 1 elections and they all won.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 1:49 PM.
