Tarrant County Democrats chair resigns; previous leader announces candidacy
I'm running for @TarrantDemParty Chair (again).
— Dr. Allison Campolo (@AllisonCampolo) June 4, 2025
I'm sorry to see @crystalgaydentx go. However, my fire to make November 2026 a banner year for Tarrant Democrats is hotter than ever, and I'm ready to do my part.
Precinct Chairs, you'll be hearing from me. Thank you for all you do
With her eyes set on turning Tarrant County blue, former chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party Allison Campolo announced Tuesday night that she will run for her old seat once more.
The announcement comes a few days after the current chair, Crystal Gayden, announced she would resign once a successor is selected in the July 7 special election.
“Until that time, I will remain fully active and committed to the responsibilities of this office,” Gayden said in her statement.
She said holding the position has been “the honor of a lifetime” but offered no reasoning for her resignation.
Campolo, the first to announce candidacy, said the recent redistricting of Tarrant County commissioners precincts is what prompted her to run. After resigning as chair in 2023, Campolo said she didn’t think she’d return to the “unglamorous” and “challenging” role. She had stepped into the leadership position in July 2021.
“I didn’t see myself coming back, and Crystal happened to resign right in the middle of this redistricting fight,” Campolo said. “I’m inspired by Alisa Simmons to tell you frankly, but I’m also inspired by my rage against what’s been happening to Tarrant County Democrats and the injustices we saw yesterday.”
In the hours leading up to the redistricting vote on Tuesday, Campolo and other leaders rallied residents to make their discontent known in the Commissioners Court meeting. Campolo warned the crowd of about 80 that the “vote’s not gonna go well” but to stay until their voices were heard anyway.
“What I want to talk about is what comes after that,” Campolo said at the rally Tuesday morning. “That pendulum is coming back our way in 2026. I have a secret I need to tell you guys, a secret that Democrats in Tarrant County don’t know, but Republicans know, which is why they’re doing this. We outnumber them. We just have to vote. We need to organize.”
Campolo said she’s ready to lead Tarrant Democrats
She told the Star-Telegram that she is ready to lead the party through the next election cycle. Campolo said 2026 will be a critical year for Democrats “to fight back against the local extremists in Tarrant County.”
Gayden did a great job of bringing new people into the party, Campolo said, and she wants to build on that accomplishment.
Another goal of hers is to expand fundraising efforts so the party can fund a “robust, coordinated campaign” that she believes Tarrant County Democrats are looking for from the party. She also wants to bring in precinct chairs and train them to work their areas.
“And then, of course, the main goal is to elect Democrats,” Campolo said. “We need to flip Tarrant County blue, not just at the very top of the ticket, which we’ve done now several times, but all the way down.”
Campolo said a top goal for the party is to find a new county judge to replace Republican Tim O’Hare. They also want to retain Simmons’ Precinct 2 seat and flip the Precinct 4 seat, held by Manny Ramirez.
Other “very flippable races” include the district attorney and Texas House of Representatives District 94 elections, she said. Republican Rep. Tony Tinderholt of Arlington, who said Monday he would retire from the District 94 seat, announced minutes after the new precinct map was adopted Tuesday that he would be running for Simmons’ seat.
“I’ll definitely be angling pretty hard for that one to get our Democrat elected,” Campolo said. “So of course, you want to maintain the incumbents that we have, protect those seats, flip some new seats, and then the biggest goal, of course, is to flip Tarrant County blue countywide from the top to the bottom of the ballot.”