Former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a Republican, joined local Democrats at an event supporting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger, Colin Allred.
Whitley served as the Tarrant County Judge from 2007 to 2022 and made an announcement at a campaign event for Allred that he will be supporting his campaign instead of Cruz.
Whitley stated that Cruz’s support for former President Donald Trump and Cruz’s character as primary reasons for his decision to support Allred, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
This would not be the first time that the former Republican county judge has endorsed a statewide Democrat, as Whitley endorsed Mike Collier for lieutenant governor of Texas during the 2022 general election season.
The recent decision to endorse Allred has been met with criticism by Republican leaders in Tarrant County, including its GOP Chairman, Bo French.
“We all know why. He was always a Democrat. Maybe it was his love of tyranny during the COVID scamdemic. Maybe it was his giving taxpayer money to one of the biggest enablers of the illegal alien invasion. But this is not news. He love the democrat agenda,” French posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“Fun fact of the day: Tarrant County Judge @TimothyOHare is the first Republican county judge in Tarrant since 2007,” Keller Mayor Armin Mizani posted on X.
Whitley defended his decision.
“I am proud to be a Texan and an American, and I want to support someone who I know is going to work for a team,” Whitley said, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Cruz has responded to the Republicans supporting Allred, stating that they are voting against him because they dislike former President Trump, reported WFAA.
Cruz did point out that some Democrats are supporting him.
“We are also seeing like Pete Saenz, the former mayor of Laredo, an elected Democrat who’s endorsed me because Mayor Saenz and I have worked hand in hand and he wants a senator who will fight got jobs and small businesses and again, who will fight to secure the border,” Cruz said, reported WFAA.