Second candidate enters race for Tarrant County Democratic Party chair
A second candidate has entered the race for chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party.
Patrick Moses, pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church and 2024 Democratic candidate for sheriff, is running to fill the unexpired term of Crystal Gayden. Moses is a retired federal law enforcement executive and held several positions in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He will compete against former chair Allison Campolo, the only other declared candidate as of Wednesday. The special election will be July 7.
Moses said he offers the party leadership that inspires, informs and mobilizes the electorate rather than solely focusing on advocacy.
“What I believe the biggest shortcoming in my party is that the activist portion wants to do things — and it’s important to have activists in every party, that’s not my point — but at some point, we need someone to shepherd all of the actions and all of the policy perspectives and shepherd all of the concerns and interest of every person,” he said.
Outside of just recruiting precinct chairs and fundraising, Moses wants to expand the reach of the Democratic Party and to bring more people to the table. He said he will make a point to converse with the various groups in the community who “have often felt totally ignored.”
Moses said he wants to ensure the candidates being selected by the Democrats are ones who reflect the electorate’s needs.
“Leadership is about guiding people to win,” Moses said. “In 2026, there is absolutely no reason why election cycle after election cycle, we do not have qualified candidates who are prepared, who are ready, who can mobilize people to the polls, and that’s why I’m running for this office.”
In regard to the political climate, Moses said it’s past time to lower the temperature in Tarrant County.
“We got to stop this oppressive mentality that because you are part of the GOP, that you are my enemy, that you’re part of the Democratic Party, you’re my enemy,” Moses said. “We are all Texans. We are all taxpayers, we are all citizens, and we just got to stop the hatred. We got to stop all of the violence. We got to stop all of the things that tend to divide us.”
Dually, Moses said racism within his own party needs to be addressed.
“We cannot continue to ignore the people who are most at risk of even the redistricting in Tarrant County,” Moses said. “That’s why I have agreed to stand for the invisible people who have been ignored by my party, to bring a new level of leadership to the Democratic Party.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 2:22 PM.