State of political environment? ‘Toxic’ outgoing Tarrant County judge says
The outgoing Tarrant County judge’s opinion of the current political environment: “Toxic,” Glen Whitley told a packed crowd at his final State of the County address at the Worthington Renaissance hotel in downtown Fort Worth Friday afternoon.
Whitley, a Republican, will leave office in January after serving as county judge for 15 years and as a commissioner for 10 years before that. His final months in office haven’t been complete without headlines as the race for his replacement has ramped up.
Democrat Deborah Peoples, a former AT&T executive, and Republican Tim O’Hare, former Tarrant GOP chair and former Farmers Branch mayor, face off in the race for the next county on Tuesday. Early voting ends Friday evening.
Whitley endorsed former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price for the position as she ran for the Republican nomination. Price ultimately lost to O’Hare thanks to support from Tarrant County suburbs.
O’Hare’s campaign and subsequent nomination effectively divided local Republicans as he attacked Price’s record as mayor in an attempt to prove she wasn’t the conservative candidate. Whitley was outspoken following Price’s loss and voiced his disappointment in O’Hare campaign approach, saying he didn’t know how an attack campaign won over Tarrant County voters and that he hoped the race became more about issues than politics.
Not only has Whitley come out against O’Hare, but Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker has since said she couldn’t run in a Republican primary right now and that the party wasn’t one she used to identify with. Price, too, has advised voters to vote for the right person for the job, not the political party.
It was the sentiment Whitley shared in the aftermath of the O’Hare and Price primary that he chose to share in his final State of the County address.
The political environment from when Whtiley first took his position has taken a complete 180, he told the crowd. Parties now, Whitley said, are more focused on helping themselves than the people they serve.
Whitley has endorsed Democrat Mike Collier in the race for lieutenant governor against incumbent Republican Dan Patrick. The move was chastised by some Republicans and celebrated by Democrats statewide, but Whitley has maintained the endorsement wasn’t about politics, but supporting the right Texan for the job.
In his address, Whitley called Patrick “vindictive.”
Whitley also tackled subjects like property taxes and what the county learned from the pandemic. But he also said he was prepared to usher in the new three members of the commissioners court. In addition to the county judge’s race, voters in Precinct 2, which represents Mansfield and Arlington, and Precinct 4, which represents northwest Tarrant and west Fort Worth, will elect new commissioners.
Republican Fort Worth Police Officers Association president Manny Ramirez and Democrat Cedrice Kanyinda, who owns his own business, are seeking the Precinct 4 slot. Republican and former county commissioner Andy Nguyen and Democratic Arlington NAACP president Alisa Simmons are in a contentious race to represent Precinct 2.
Tarrant County’s road after Tuesday comes down to two paths: It either goes blue with Peoples or bright red with O’Hare. In a press pool following his speech, Whitley told the Star-Telegram that he didn’t think promises that are being made by candidates in their campaigns would end up coming to fruition — particularly O’Hare’s plan to slice the property tax rate by 20% without touching law enforcement.
Whitley said he plans to call each new commissioner and do anything he can to help their transition.
At the end of his address, Whitley had one thing to say to Tarrant County: “Thank you again for making this the best 26 years of my life.”
And then, thunderous applause.
