Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare (R) is telling churchgoers that too many Christians treat county races as background noise ahead of the November 3 election.
Speaking September 27 at For Liberty & Justice’s Team Night at Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth, where The Dallas Express was present, O’Hare said believers often miss what is at stake locally.
“I don’t think Christians know enough of it. I don’t think they’re aware,” he said. “It’s just, ‘Oh, it’s another election,’ and how does this affect me?”
O’Hare faces Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons (D) for county judge. Both sit on the Commissioners Court.
Also at the gathering were Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Tim Davis and former state Rep. Nate Schatzline, now a senior adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott and founder of For Liberty & Justice.
Taxes and the Ten Commandments
During the event, O’Hare used county tax rates and a courthouse Ten Commandments monument to draw a contrast with Simmons.
He cited a 17% drop in the county tax rate and a 29.2% drop in the hospital district rate over four years, figures his office repeated in an August budget update. Those percentages describe reductions in tax rates, not necessarily reductions in an individual homeowner’s bill. What a homeowner actually pays still depends on appraised value, exemptions and rates set by cities, school districts and other taxing entities.
At the September 1 Commissioners Court meeting, Simmons warned that repeatedly setting hospital district tax rates below the no-new-revenue rate could leave JPS without needed resources, Fort Worth Report reported.
Later at the same Fort Worth event, O’Hare remarked on Simmons’ vote against a Ten Commandments display at the historic courthouse.
“My opponent voted against a 10 Commandments monument in front of the courthouse,” he said.
Commissioners accepted the donated Ten Commandments Monument on April 15, 2025, on a 3-1 vote. Simmons cast the dissenting vote, citing church-state concerns. The Dallas Express later reported the same split when the monument was dedicated.
Schatzline ties voting to Christian convictions
Schatzline urged attendees to weigh religious and moral issues when voting.
“Last time I checked, telling a child that they’re not the gender that God created them to be is not loving thy neighbor,” Schatzline told attendees.
“Last time I checked, saying that God is non-binary is not exactly loving God the Father. Last time I checked, looking at a pre-born child and saying the Lord blesses abortion isn’t exactly loving thy neighbor,” he continued.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50), the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, has said “God is nonbinary” and argued that the Bible permits abortion. That report examined those claims against Scripture and historic Christian teaching.
CAIR targets Texas voters
Beyond the Fort Worth gathering, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is organizing voter outreach in Texas following Abbott’s November 18, 2025, designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under Texas law. Abbott’s office said the action prohibits the organizations from purchasing or acquiring land in the state.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) followed with a February 5 lawsuit seeking to stop CAIR, its Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth chapters, and the Muslim Brotherhood from operating in Texas. CAIR disputes the terrorism allegations, and its Texas chapters challenged Abbott’s designation in federal court.
CAIR lists Texas among 12 priority states in its 2026 election plan, part of a national campaign seeking to mobilize 3 million more American Muslim voters. Its plan includes voter registration drives at mosques, college outreach and trips to polling places after Friday prayers.
CAIR describes that campaign as nonpartisan and says it does not endorse or oppose candidates. Its separately organized advocacy affiliate, CAIR Action, makes candidate recommendations. Its 2026 Texas primary guide recommended state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50) for U.S. Senate and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-District 49) for governor.
Calls for churches to lead
Arizona Christian University researcher George Barna criticized churches for disengaging from elections in an October 8, 2024, statement. He called it “troubling that so many churches have distanced themselves from the election.”
Failing to educate congregants about voting was “an embarrassment,” J.C. Church, pastor of Victory In Truth Ministries in Ohio, said in an October 14, 2024, report by American Family News.
For Prestonwood Baptist Church Senior Pastor Jack Graham, encouraging informed voting is part of a pastor’s responsibility to teach the Bible and morality. He explained that approach in a separate interview published May 19, 2026, by The Korea Times.
“We’re salt, and salt is no good if it’s just in the salt shaker,” Graham said. “As a pastor, I know I don’t endorse political candidates, but I preach the Bible and I teach morality, and I encourage our people at our church to vote and to be involved in the process, to be an informed voter.”
Graham also warned that pastors who avoid contemporary moral and ethical questions miss an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.
The voter registration deadline is October 5. Early voting runs October 19-30, and Election Day is November 3, according to the Texas secretary of state’s election calendar.
