Dallas County has hired the former Tarrant County elections administrator to replace the outgoing Michael Scarpello.
Scarpello, who has served as the Dallas County elections administrator since the end of 2020, announced his retirement on October 6. His last day in the office will be December 19.
“After nearly three years of dedicated service as the Dallas County Elections Administrator, I am writing to announce my retirement, which will take effect in the very near future,” he explained. “It has been an incredible journey, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside each of you.”
“During my tenure, we embarked on an extensive business process reengineering effort, resulting in sweeping change, innovation, and modernization across all aspects of our operations,” Scarpello added. “These enhancements have transformed our department into a significantly more effective and efficient organization, ultimately enhancing the voting experience for the residents of Dallas County.”
Replacing Scarpello will be Heider Garcia, who left his elections administrator position in Tarrant County in June due to his disagreements with recently elected County Judge Tim O’Hare, as reported by The Dallas Express.
“Judge O’Hare, my formula to ‘administer a quality transparent election’ stands on respect and zero politics; compromising on these values is not an option for me,” Garcia wrote in his resignation letter submitted in April. “You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision to leave.”
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who chairs the elections commission, said Garcia had a “proven track record of running excellent elections in several places, most recently Tarrant County.”
“Elected officials of both parties and former Texas secretaries of state praise Heider for his thoroughness, fairness, and leadership abilities,” Jenkins continued, per WFAA.
Upon being selected by Dallas County, Garcia posted on social media, “I’m honored by the decision of Dallas County to offer me the position of Elections Administrator.”
“I will be very humble in my new role and work hard to follow in Michael’s footsteps, Dallas deserves the best and I intend to work with that goal in mind,” he added.
Scarpello confirmed to Votebeat that he had reached out to Garcia in an effort to recruit him for Dallas County following Garcia’s resignation. Dallas County has struggled with irregularities in the voting process in the past, as reported by The Dallas Express.