Tarrant County presented with new redistricting maps option ahead of June 3 vote
Tarrant County officials received a sixth and seventh map for their consideration before the June 3 vote to choose a new precinct map.
An email was sent to the commissioners court members’ chiefs of staff Tuesday afternoon with the sixth map by Joe Nixon of Public Interest Legal Foundation, the Alexandria, Virginia-based law firm selected by County Judge Tim O’Hare to aid in the redistricting process.
The Star-Telegram was given the sixth map by Hector Mendez, communications manager for Commissioner Alisa Simmons of Precinct 2.
Tracey Knight, the chief of staff for Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez, said the map will be posted online Thursday. Knight said she is not certain why the sixth map was drawn.
A seventh map is has also been posted to the county’s redistricting website.
The new maps are similar to the five other proposed maps, which were drawn by Adam Kincaid, the executive director and president of National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates “the GOP’s 50-state redistricting effort.”
Each of the seven maps shows Precinct 1, represented by Commissioner Roderick Miles, as an upside-down U-shape wrapping from Grand Prairie, around the north side of Arlington, into southeast Fort Worth and down into the southwest corner of Tarrant County.
In the sixth map, Precinct 2, represented by Commissioner Alisa Simmons, houses much of Arlington and is the inverse of Precinct 1 in south Tarrant County. Commissioner Matt Krause’s Precinct 3 in northeast Tarrant County reaches down to a sliver of Arlington and encompasses Keller, Southlake, Grapevine, Hurst, Euless and Bedford. Ramirez’s Precinct 4 in the northwest corner of the county claims northwest Fort Worth and stretches down toward White Settlement.
The seventh map appears to be the same, except for the borders between Precincts 1, 2 and 3 in north Arlington and the border between Precincts 4 and 1 in northeast Fort Worth.
In the newest maps, Arlington is split into Precincts 1, 2 and 3. The city being split up in some of the other proposed maps has been a point of contention for Arlington residents and officials who oppose the redistricting. The Arlington residents in favor say they want to be represented by more than one commissioner.
Many in favor of the redistricting say they prefer Map 1.
Five weeks after the law firm was tapped on April 2, Nixon presented five proposed maps to the Commissioners Court and said each was based on a commissioners’ individual wants.
In a guest commentary in the Star-Telegram, Ramirez wrote he wanted balanced precinct populations, minimal changes to his own precinct’s boundaries and an additional Republican-led precinct.
Simmons told Nixon at the May 6 meeting that none of the proposed maps represented her wishes because she wants to keep the current map.
The redistricting has drawn attention from leaders at the national and state levels, who have called the new maps racial gerrymandering and “Jim Crow politics” by O’Hare.
A spokesperson from O’Hare’s office said the county judge has not heard from or read comments made by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, who said during a press conference on Tuesday that he opposed the redistricting.
“We do not recall the Congressman speaking out against Dallas County in 2021, when it redrew its maps to eliminate the only Republican Commissioner, resulting in a 5–0 Democratic majority on the Court,” the spokesperson said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM.