Proposed Tarrant County commissioner precinct maps favor Republicans
Tarrant County commissioners will consider five maps for redistricting, all of which would benefit Republicans based on recent voting trends.
The maps were drawn by Adam Kincaid, executive director and president of National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates 'the GOP's 50-state redistricting effort.' He was hired by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the Arlington, Virginia-based firm the county tapped April 2 to redraw its commissioner precinct maps.
Precinct 2 commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat from Arlington, condemned the law firm representative, Joe Nixon, and the contracted map drawer, Adam Kincaid, for 'intentional racial discrimination,' citing the law firm's work defending Galveston County when it was accused in 2021 of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
Simmons would be at risk of losing her seat in the redistricting — all of the maps break Arlington into three precincts.
'Let's be clear: this is a calculated attempt to strip representation from the very communities that I was elected to represent,' Simmons said in a statement.
The county will host four public feedback sessions from May 13 to May 21 in Azle, southwest Fort Worth, Arlington and Hurst.
Simmons said the court needs to hear from Kincaid and that he should attend the public feedback sessions. O'Hare would not answer her question about if it would be possible to bring Kincaid in.
Broderick Miles, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said there should be more feedback sessions, including ones in Spanish and Vietnamese.
'We need to make it as accessible and open and transparent to every resident in Tarrant County as we possibly can, and if that means extending the timeline so be it,' Miles said. 'We are not elected to represent just the people that we agree with. We were elected to hear from the people. The people should have an opportunity to let their voices be heard.'
Roderick Miles Jr., the Tarrant County Commissioner of Precinct 1, addresses his concern regarding the proposed redistricting of the county during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
The last feedback session takes place two weeks before the commissioners are set to vote on the new map on June 6. Many of the speakers signed up for public comment questioned if the meetings were just a farce.
'That doesn't feel to me like a long enough time to consider meaningfully any feedback that's to be obtained during these sessions,' Diana Cason said. 'So are these meaningful sessions for input, or are they dog and pony shows?'
PILF under fire from Simmons
The nonprofit Public Interest Legal Foundation focuses on election integrity and fighting voter fraud, according to its website. The firm successfully defended Galveston County in federal litigation over allegations it unconstitutionally used racial gerrymandering in a 2021 commissioners redistricting.
Simmons said the firm was chosen by Republican County Judge Tim O'Hare because of its political history.
'PILF is not a traditional law firm,' Simmons said in a statement. 'It is an extreme, ideologically motivated organization with a documented history of undermining voting rights, particularly for communities of color. Their involvement in this process was no accident. It was a deliberate choice by the county judge to bring in a group whose mission is to weaken the power of minority voters.'
Lawyer Joe Nixon remains present after addressing the questions regarding the proposed redistricting of the county during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Simmons asked Nixon, a litigator with the law firm, about his involvement in various cases of alleged unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and if he had ever broken the Voting Rights Act. Nixon denied ever doing so, and explained the court sided with his firm in the Galveston County case.
'I've been practicing law 42 years,' Nixon said. 'I have never once had anyone say anything that you just said to me publicly. I am embarrassed for you.'
Nixon said the five maps represent the wants of each of the commissioners. Simmons said the only map that represented hers and Miles' wants was the current precinct map.
Redrawn precinct maps
The four commissioners each represent a precinct and the county judge represents the county as a whole.
The proposed maps divide Precinct 4 and Precinct 3 along Interstate 35W. They also each break Arlington into three precincts, when it is now completely in Precinct 2.
According to county election data, Precincts 1 and 2 vote Democratic and Precincts 3 and 4 vote Republican. In the new maps, only Precinct 1 has voted Democratic in the presidential and midterm elections going back to 2016.
Democrats have consistently held Miles' Precinct 1 seat. Republicans represented Precinct 2 for 34 years until Democrat Devan Allen took the seat in 2019. Simmons won the seat in the 2022 election.
The 26 people who spoke during public comment opposed the proposed maps and said they prefer the current one. One speaker condemned the commissioners court for the lack of representation in the proposed maps.
Arlington resident Jackee Cox speaks during the public comment portion during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
'I really would like map drawers, people with the expertise to draw maps that will come out to be fair to everyone, because this county is not 100% Republican,' Jackee Cox, a retired civil rights attorney, said. 'If you draw lines to give us only Republican representation, those people who need mental health services and public health services and JPS services and road services and all kinds of services will be not only underrepresented, but will be unrepresented.'
Simmons told the Star-Telegram that she and Miles will determine whether to sue the county for pursuing 'a redistricting process that is an attack on voters based on the color of their skin and the electoral decisions they make as minority citizens.'
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