Republican candidates outraise Democrats by over $1 million, reflecting organizational dominance in Tarrant County

In the race for Tarrant county judge, about $1.5 million was raised by both candidates in the general election. Democrat Deborah Peoples raised $377,391, or 24% of the figure, Republican Tim O’Hare raised 1.2 million, or 76%. Campaign finance reports reveal a wide gap between Republican and Democrat candidates. In the weeks following the election, the Report reviewed data and spoke with experts to explain why money matters in local races. Raising awareness for a candidate is important, especially a local candidate, said James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at TCU. That’s why attracting donors is critically important, specifically large ones. “Money is the mother’s milk of politics,” Riddlesperger said. Despite the importance of campaign contributions, the primary motivation of large donors may not be the candidate themself or even the party marked next to a candidate’s name on the ballot. Instead, interest groups and donors are likely weighing who is most likely to win, Riddlesperger said.

“Money follows winners,” Riddlesperger said. “People aren’t going to invest their money where they don’t think that they’re going to win.” Since the turn of the century, Republicans have been winners in Tarrant County, giving the party an advantage. The county’s history creates a system of producing qualified Republican candidates, said Rick Barnes, chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party. “They have the relationships out there with supporters,” Barnes said. “There’s two different kinds of supporters, one’s the person that votes and the other is the person that has the money to support.” Republican’s dominance in Tarrant County creates a challenge for Democratic candidates looking to disrupt that status quo, said Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. “Democrats don’t have a solid organization because they have not elected winners, but how can you elect winners if you don’t have the organization?” Riddlesperger said. While Democrats seeking countywide offices routinely get more than 40% of the vote, they raised proportionally much less money in the run-up to the General Election compared with their Republican opponents. “Until we vote in some Democratic countywide candidates here in Tarrant County, that does make fundraising that much harder,” Campolo said. “That’ll be true until we are able to flip the county at the bottom of the ballot, but I don’t think that’s very far off.”