Austin mayor’s race heading to a runoff, Dallas county judge wins reelection

State Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, finished first in the Austin mayor’s race Tuesday and is heading to a runoff with former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

O’Hare wins Tarrant County judge race

Nov. 8, 2022 at 11:07 p.m.

In the state’s last major urban county dominated by the GOP, Republicans kept control of Tarrant County’s top elected position as Tim O’Hare beat Democrat Deborah Peoples by a large margin with all vote centers reporting, according to the Tarrant County elections office.

O’Hare and Peoples faced off to replace Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a Republican who did not seek reelection.

Peoples was the underdog in this race. Tarrant County voters have recently supported Democrats at the top of the ballot — Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate in 2018 and President Joe Biden in 2020 — but tend to vote for Republicans on the rest of the ballot.

Those two wins — along with population growth and GOP infighting this year — boosted Democrats’ hopes that they could see gains elsewhere on the ballot, such as in the county judge’s race. Peoples tried to fashion herself as a business-friendly Democrat in hopes that she could woo moderate and business-minded Republicans turned off by O’Hare’s history of culture war conservatism. O’Hare co-founded Southlake Families PAC, which successfully opposed a plan to address racial discrimination at a school district in northeast Tarrant County.

O’Hare, a former mayor of Farmers Branch backed by former President Donald Trump, opened a huge fundraising advantage over Peoples, a retired AT&T executive who twice ran unsuccessful campaigns for Fort Worth mayor. O’Hare has raised more than $1 million since July 1 and spent nearly as much — dwarfing Peoples’ $193,000 haul and $228,000 spent over the same time period.

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Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins easily wins reelection bid

Nov. 8, 2022 at 11:05 p.m.

Just east of Tarrant County in reliably blue Dallas County, the race for the county’s top elected position has seen more heat than usual — but the incumbent Democrat easily won reelection.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, a Democrat first elected to the seat in 2010, won with commanding lead over Republican Lauren Davis, a first-time candidate who owns a chain of barber shops, with nearly all the votes counted, according to the Dallas County elections office.

Jenkins rose to greater prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic — becoming a chief antagonist of Gov. Greg Abbott as the governor overrode local officials’ authority to institute measures like mask mandates and occupancy restrictions for businesses.

Those restrictions put in place by Jenkins have fueled a challenge from Davis, who told The Dallas Morning News the measures harmed her business and blamed Jenkins.

Davis raised more than $1 million since July and spent nearly $1.2 million to unseat the 58-year-old lawyer. Jenkins, meanwhile, raised nearly $323,000 and spent almost $465,000.

Dallas County has gone Democratic at the top of the ticket in every election since 2008.