U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, announced Monday he is withdrawing from the race for Tarrant County judge, a week after his 11th-hour decision to run for the county executive post.
Veasey, who has represented North Texas’ 33rd Congressional District since 2013, filed to challenge County Judge Tim O’Hare on Dec. 8, the deadline for candidates to get on the 2026 ballot in Texas. His decision to forgo reelection to Congress came after the GOP’s summer redistricting left him with a lack of viable options. The new congressional map approved by Republicans in the Legislature split up Veasey’s political base in Fort Worth, shifting his district entirely into neighboring Dallas County.
But on Monday, he announced that he wanted to keep his focus next year — his final year in Congress — on his dismantled congressional district, rather than campaigning for local office.
“Right now, my responsibility is to stay in Congress and continue the fight where the stakes are highest — holding Donald Trump accountable, pushing back against MAGA extremism, and defending the democratic values our community depends on,” Veasey said in a statement. “That is where I believe I can do the most good, and that is the work I intend to continue until the end of my term.”
Veasey had considered running in the newly drawn 30th Congressional District — the only Democratic-leaning district to contain a portion of Tarrant County under the new map — in the days leading up to the filing deadline. But he instead filed to run for county judge in the final hour before filing closed.
Now, no incumbents are running in the 30th District — which Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, is vacating for a Senate bid. Rev. Frederick Haynes III, the senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas and a close Crockett ally, is the most prominent candidate in the race for the open seat.
Veasey’s decision to drop out clears the way for Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons to be the Democratic nominee for county judge. Simmons, whose precinct was dismantled by the county commissioners court in its own mid-decade redistricting effort this summer, has represented the southeast part of the county since 2022 and had launched a county judge campaign on Dec. 6.
Tarrant County is Texas’ third-largest county and, for the last few election cycles, an increasingly swingy battleground. Home to over 2 million people, the county was carried by President Joe Biden in 2020, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the once-solidly red county in nearly 50 years. President Donald Trump reclaimed it for Republicans in 2024, though Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred won it down-ballot.
O’Hare — a Republican who has pushed the county in a more right-wing direction — has served as county judge since 2023, and is running for a second term next year. O’Hare has used the position to bring Tarrant County into numerous culture war battles, including in highly public efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools and nonprofits.
Veasey said he believed he could have won the race, but that alone was not enough to justify a run.
“I do not doubt that I could wage a strong campaign here,” Veasey said. “But knowing you can win an election does not mean you should run a campaign. With the congressional district I represent eliminated through redistricting, I will remain laser-focused on serving the people of North Texas and using every remaining day of my term to meet this moment.”
