Right-wing Republicans see opportunity in low-turnout Fort Worth City Council elections | Opinion
Conservative Republicans took Tarrant County away from moderate leadership last fall, and now, they want to do the same with Fort Worth.
A Colleyville-based political committee led by donors to Florida Republican Donald Trump and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare is raising money to challenge two Fort Worth City Council incumbents in the municipal elections beginning April 24.
Conservative backers want to flip two seats away from Democrats, and maybe from moderate Republicans.
In 2021, Tarrant County Democrats celebrated when Jared Williams ousted a 16-year Republican incumbent in District 6, flipping the council Democratic by a 5-4 edge after 10 years with a majority-GOP council running a solidly Democratic city.
Even that one-vote margin now appears in doubt.
City voters expanded the council to 11 seats this year, A conservative Republican will win at least one open seat, and conservatives are in contention for several others.
By the June 10 runoff election, conservatives who supported Trump and O’Hare might vote with moderate Republicans to give GOP as much as a two-seat edge. (Council elections are nonpartisan, but candidates’ party identities are increasingly clear.)
The new “Fort Worth Excellence PAC” based in Colleyville already reported raising $30,000 beginning March 22 for challenger Pamela Boggess against District 9 council incumbent Elizabeth Beck, a former Democratic Texas House candidate.
The PAC also supports challenger Italia De La Cruz against Williams in District 6.
Among the first donations was $10,000 from Don Woodard Jr., who donated nearly $300,000 last year to O’Hare’s winning campaigns against moderate Republican Betsy Price of Fort Worth and then against Democrat Deborah Peoples.
Neither Boggess nor De La Cruz disclosed the PAC support on April 6 reports. The next report is due a week before the election. Donation lists are posted online at the Fort Worth city secretary’s website.
Boggess’ disclosure listed a $25,000 contribution directly from Woodard. She reported a total of about $30,000 in contributions, compared to Beck’s total of about $80,000.
Candidate Jason Lee Peña reported raising about $7,000, and Chris Reed did not report raising or spending any money.
In District 6, De La Cruz reported raising about $10,000 to Williams’ $23,000. A third candidate, Tonya Carter, did not report raising or spending any money.
Notably, De La Cruz, Peña and District 7 candidate Caleb Backholm paid for consulting from Edgerton Strategies, the Fort Worth-based marketer for conservative Republican candidates, including those in north Tarrant County backed by the Patriot Mobile PAC.
Backholm is running for an open seat against Jason Ellis and Macy Hill. All are Republicans.
De La Cruz and Backholm also reported payments to Asher Gillaspie of the We Can Keep It PAC, a “biblical values” fund that was the largest PAC donor to O’Hare.
This is what O’Hare was talking about Monday when he and other county leaders spoke to the Grapevine-based True Texas Project, a former tea party group, during a meeting at a North Richland Hills church.
“These elections, the turnout is so low by percentage,” he said. “By you bringing neighbors, friends, picking up the phone, doing postings on social media, there are races that, quite frankly, we ought not to be able to win that we can probably win just because we raise awareness and get people out.”
This election is always tough. It’s springtime. The weather is nice. The final day of voting, May 6, is during Mayfest.
But every vote can swing both a district and a city.
