Judge denies request to temporarily block redrawn Tarrant County precinct map
A district court judge has denied a request for a temporary injunction against Tarrant County’s redrawn commissioners precincts.
Judge Megan Fahey, who presides over the 348th District Court, agreed with attorneys representing defendants Tarrant County, the Commissioners Court and County Judge Tim O’Hare.
The request was filed by plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the county by the League of United Latin American Citizens of Fort Worth, Council 4568 and the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County.
The coalition of nonprofit civil-rights plaintiffs aimed to stop Tarrant County from implementing a new, “racially-discriminatory” commissioners precinct map before the 2026 election. The two-hour hearing took place on Sept. 25.
Texas Civil Rights Project Voting Rights Attorney Nina Oishi, who represented the coalition, said the group is disappointed by the ruling.
Attorneys representing the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In September, a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth denied a request to keep the old commissioners precinct map in place until the redistricting lawsuit is finished.
The new map, approved in June, alters the Democratic Precincts 1 and 2 in southern Tarrant County. Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat from Arlington, will be in a Republican-leaning district. She is up for reelection in 2026.
Minutes after the vote, state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, announced his candidacy for the Precinct 2 seat, a day after he said he would not seek reelection.