Is this the Incredible Shrinking Political Party? The Tarrant GOP goes 0-for-11 | Opinion
.JPG "The newly rebuilt upper portion of the Tarrant County Courthouse is easily seen now that scaffolding is almost completely gone on Tuesday Apr. 17, 2012 . (Star-Telegram/Ron T. Ennis)")
We knew Tarrant County Republicans would eventually cross the line.
But the line turned into a concrete wall.
After going more MAGA and more hardline conservative than ever — and demanding other Republicans get in line — the local GOP went 0-11 in key city, school and college board elections May 3.
Yes, that’s a zero.
The Tarrant County Republican Party targeted 12 races in city, school and college board elections in Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield.
So far, the party went zero-for-11. One Mansfield City Council race awaits a June 7 runoff.
The county party chair, Bo French of Westover Hills, was quick to blame the losses on voter turnout.
“This just shows that Republicans need to do a better job of organizing behind Republicans and motivating our voters to get involved,” he told KTVT/Channel 11, CBS Texas.
But that wasn’t the problem. Their elections actually had higher-than-usual turnout.
The problem is that Republicans have chased away all but the most MAGA candidates.
Turnout wasn’t low. In some races, it was 20%-40%
If you think the problem was turnout, take a look at the numbers:
▪ More than 14,700 voters cast ballots for the Keller school board.
▪ There were more than 12,300 voters in the Mansfield school election, with turnout as high as 30%.
▪ Colleyville and Grapevine had 11,717 voters and 20-30% turnout.
That’s where school trustee Tammy Nakamura of MAGA-minded Colleyville spent more than $100,000 for a non-paying school board seat.
She was ousted on Election Day by Grapevine challenger Matt Foust.
It’s Patriot Mobile’s county
In each of those elections, turnout hit a record high. But the conservative candidates hand-picked by the Republican Party, some primarily funded by the Church of Christ-founded Patriot Mobile PAC, lost.
Don’t get me wrong. The GOP remains completely in control in Tarrant County. That’s how it’s been for 40 years.
But I would not bank on another 40.
Mansfield Republicans beaten badly
In Mansfield, former mayor David Cook, now a state representative, had called in Republicans from both Dallas and Fort Worth to rally and raise money for his “Keep Tarrant Red” PAC.
The party fully endorsed six candidates in Mansfield — three for City Council, and three school board incumbents from the Patriot Mobile team.
Five of the GOP candidates lost badly. The average margin was 18 points.
The sixth Republican-backed candidate, Melisa Perez, is running neck-and-neck with Todd Simmons going into a June 7 runoff.
Keller trustees, college challenger lost
In the greater Keller school district, which is mostly in north Fort Worth, only one candidate accepted Republican support.
But the party was already tainted by Keller Republicans’ effort to break up the school district.
The only candidate who dared wear the GOP brand was Jade Holbrook. She lost by 25 percentage points.
Also, Republican Cary Cheshire of Benbrook, French’s party vice chair, ran for the county college board district in southwest and west Tarrant County.
It was Cheshire who ran the party endorsements. Naturally, his own committee endorsed him unanimously.
He lost by 22 percentage points.
A rare sentence in Tarrant County: Democrats win
Tarrant County Democrats didn’t do that well, either.
The party published a list of “approved candidates,” but some finished in a sad third place.
That did not stop the party’s celebration.
“Despite a flood of dark-money spending and far-right rallies,” party county Chair Crystal Gayden of Fort Worth wrote, the partisan Republicans lost.
Steve Bannon says as Dems go, so go Texas and America
Barely two months ago, the Tarrant County Republican Party hosted a national “MAGA Gala” fundraiser in Fort Worth.
Online host and former White House strategist Steve Bannon repeated a familiar line.
“As Tarrant County goes, so goes Texas, right?” he asked the Ridglea Country Club crowd.
“As Texas goes, so goes MAGA. And as MAGA goes, so goes the United States of America. And as the United States of America goes, so goes the world.”
And the Tarrant GOP goes 0-11.
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM.
