by Austin A few weeks after the commissioners court was redesigned, the traditionally red Tarrant County is once again at the center of redistricting politics as a major Democratic bastion is being moved out of the county by planned congressional changes.
By eliminating U.S. House District 33 entirely from Tarrant County, which currently has seven lawmakers, the initial draft of a new congressional map, which was unveiled on July 30, might guarantee GOP representation throughout the county.
The seat that Fort Worth Democrat Marc Veasey presently holds is located in Dallas County on the map, but important precincts would move into other districts that are thought to be secure for Republican victories.
In preparation for the 2026 midterm elections, Governor Greg Abbott’s request to redraw Texas congressional districts during a special session in the summer may strengthen the Republican majority in the U.S. House under President Donald Trump.
At least four crucial seats in the state, including District 33, could shift in favor of Republicans. Democratic lawmakers contest Trump’s Justice Department’s claim that such districts are unlawful as they are now drawn.
The proposed plan, according to Veasey, is an illegal and racist attempt to deny Black and Latino voters a voice.
The latest politics and policy news you need
An inside look at Fort Worth and Tarrant County government news that is new and impartial. Every Friday, in your inbox.
In a statement, Veasey said, “Trump and the Republican cowards want to rig the system because they know they can’t win when every voice counts and every vote matters.” Therefore, they are attempting to eradicate us rather than win our votes.
The most recent redistricting dispute comes as political patterns in Tarrant County, which is expected to have a population of over 2.2 million by 2025, are continually changing. In 2024, county seat Fort Worth surpassed Austin to become the fourth-largest metropolis in Texas and the eleventh-largest city in the country.
According to Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, Tarrant County, which for a long time was known as the biggest red county in the country, has recently become more purple due to shifting demographics.
According to Jillson, the general shift and evolution in Tarrant County is toward a more competitive balance between Republicans and Democrats. He said that while Black, Latino, and Asian voters—who make up a large portion of the Democratic base—have increased in number, Republican-leaning white voters have decreased from making up the majority of the population to 42% since 2010.
In order to reflect population changes over the past ten years and realign member districts appropriately, redistricting of elected governmental bodies is required at the beginning of each new decade. It is uncommon to redraw boundaries outside of that, and legal disputes frequently result from such attempts.
Now, compared to some other attempts, this round of Texas mid-decade redistricting is possibly evoking an even bigger outpouring of partisan venom. In order to challenge Abbott and the Republican legislative majority, Texas House Democrats promise to explore all options, including a quorum-busting walkout.
At a contentious public hearing held in Arlington on July 28, hundreds of people showed up and strongly opposed any modifications. In Texas, several hearings of this kind were conducted.
The proposed map, which was shared a few days after the hearings, divides portions of District 33 into Republican-held districts, such as Craig Goldman’s District 12, which includes portions of Tarrant and Parker counties, and Roger Williams’ District 25, which includes portions of Parker County and extends west toward Eastland.
Matt Angle, of Fort Worth, director of the Democrat-aligned Lone Star Project, said it’s blatantly dishonorable that they withheld the map until after the public meeting. He claimed that by weakening the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters, the plan amounts to an attack on Texas.
One of the three Tarrant County representatives on the House redistricting committee, Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, referred to this summer’s attempts to redraw congressional lines as a sham, claiming that the primary goal of the special session is to cede to Donald Trump.
Reps. John McQueeney and Charlie Geren, two Fort Worth Republicans on the 21-member Texas House panel, stated they would not comment on redistricting.
State Senator Phil King of Weatherford, whose multicounty district includes a portion of Tarrant County, is one of the several local legislators involved in the redistricting process. He is in charge of the Senate committee that is investigating the matter.
According to King, the mid-decade redistricting is entirely reasonable and lawful, especially given the state’s rapidly increasing population.
According to him, people come and go. Additionally, I am aware that two years ago, my hometown of Parker was the sixth-fastest-growing county in the United States. Therefore, it seems sense to examine the changes that have occurred.
On June 3, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court adopted its new map, which redraws the two Democratic-controlled precincts and improves the likelihood of a larger conservative majority on the county governing body. This action may have increased political sensitivity to redistricting.
The plan’s implementation was pushed by County Judge Tim O. Hare, who recently declared his intention to run for reelection as the county’s chief executive. He told a television interviewer that his objective was to ensure that the court has a larger Republican majority.
A request for comment regarding the legislative hearing in Arlington was not answered by representatives of O Hare’s office.
Attacks against the state’s redistricting process paralleled claims of racism and reduced minority representation, which accompanied that mid-cycle reshuffling.
Democratic According to Joel Burns, a former member of the Fort Worth City Council who currently serves on the DFW Airport Board of Directors, redistricting has become more well known as a result of conflicts like the arguments over the commissioner’s proposal.
“It’s receiving a lot more interest than it has ever received,” he remarked.
After Beto O. Rourke barely defeated incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz to win Tarrant County votes in the 2018 election, the Democrats gained traction in the county. Then, in the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden was the county’s preferred candidate over Trump. The county turned around by the previous year’s presidential election, with Trump gaining support from Republican supporters.
According to SMU’s Jillson, Trump won a nonconsecutive second term in the White House in 2024 after scoring surprisingly well among Black and Hispanic voters.
According to Jillson, Republicans can only hope that their 2024 success among Black and Hispanic men will continue in the future, but there is no assurance of that.
As the 2026 midterm elections draw near, Turner and the other four Democrats from Tarrant County in the Texas House are putting up a united front to keep U.S. Representative Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, and other targeted colleagues from losing their seats in the redistricting process.
State Representative Nicole Collier of Fort Worth, who spearheaded a Democratic walkout in 2021 against a restrictive Republican voting law, stated that she is ready to use the same strategy once more. The absence of at least 51 of the 62 House Democrats would be necessary to break a quorum in the 150-member Texas House, which is headed by Republicans.
“Not having a quorum is the only way to delay them,” she said. There is no other option to postpone the maps. On an orderly basis, you won’t hold them up. You won’t hold them up on an amendment.
The 42-member Mexican American Legislative Caucus is chaired by Ramon Romero Jr. of Fort Worth, who also opposes the redistricting plans. He did, however, warn Democrats against staging a walkout when Kerr County people are still coping with the destruction caused by the July 4 floods.
Right now, we have a governor that is going to do whatever he is sold from the administration, Romero said, predicting that the potential impact of redistricting Latinos will stir outrage in Black and Hispanic communities.
He suggested that Abbott limit the special session to discussing the effects of the disaster and postpone other matters until a later date.
Rep. Salman Bhojani, an Euless Democrat who was elected in 2022 and became one of the first Muslims in the Legislature, stated that Democrats should resist unfair redistricting with every weapon at their disposal.
Meanwhile, the two legislators overseeing redistricting King and Republican Rep. Cody Vasut of Angleton, who chairs the House s committee on the matter have pledged a fair and transparent process.
During the first of at least seven House hearings, Vasut declared, “We’re going to follow the law.” The chair intends for us to adhere to the Voting Rights Act at all times.
Dave Montgomery is a freelance reporter for the Fort Worth Report who works out of Austin.
Kelly Hart supports the legislative coverage of Texas in the Fort Worth Report.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Find out more about our policy on editorial independence here.
Are you sick of yelling? Help us bring facts into focus.
There s no shortage of opinions out there, but facts are harder to come by. At the Fort Worth Report, we deliver local reporting grounded in truth so that you can make informed decisions for yourself and your community.
Related
The Journalism Trust Initiative has accredited Fort Worth Report for upholding ethical journalism standards.
Republish this narrative
Noncommercial organizations are exempt from republishing fees. It is forbidden for businesses to operate without a license. For further information, get in touch with us.
Republish this article
The Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License governs this work.
- Look for the “Republish This Story” button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). Do not copy stories straight from the front-end of our web-site.
-
You are required to follow the guidelines and use the republication tool when you share our content. The republication tool generates the appropriate html code.
-
You are required to add this language at the top of every republished story, including a link to the story.
This story was originally published by the Fort Worth Report. You may read
the original version here
.
- You can t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You can t sell or syndicate our stories.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
-
If you use our stories in any other medium for example, newsletters or other email campaigns you must make it clear that the stories are from the Fort Worth Report. In all emails, link directly to the story at fortworthreport.org and not to your website.
-
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using
@FortWorthReport
on Facebook and
@FortWorthReport
on Twitter.
-
You have to credit Fort Worth Report. Please use Author Name, Fort Worth Report in the byline. If you re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: This story was originally published by Fort Worth Report and include our website,
fortworthreport.org
. - You can t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
- You can t sell or syndicate our stories.
- You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
-
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using
@FortWorthReport
on Facebook and
@FortWorthReport
on Twitter.
