Simmons is one of 4 Tarrant County Commissioners and one of two Democrats. Tim O'Hare, the incumbent County Judge, led the 2 Republican Commissioners to win a mid-decade 3-2 vote to redraw the commissioners' district lines, with Simmons' district being the most negatively impacted. The new lines diluted the number of Democratic voters in her district, decreasing her chance of re-election. Instead of giving up in defeat, she went a step above and set out to defeat O'Hare in his pursuit of reelection as County Judge.
She's been the loudest voice against O'Hare on the Commissioners' board: questioning his motives to form an election task force despite no evidence of widespread fraud, and opposing his push to cut over 100 polling locations. Simmons is an accomplished journalist, spent 20 years as an administrator of the county's 9-1-1 system, and spent over a decade leading the Arlington NAACP. Her campaign is inspiring voters and activists in and outside of Texas, with endorsements from EMILY's List and the Dallas Morning News. She hopes to show O'Hare that county voters' voices are stronger than voter suppression tactics.
Scroll for more ↓
Simmons’s take on Texas values
In September 2026 she voted against cutting polling sites and tried to add sites back, calling the cut a deliberate act to reduce voter access. [Texas Tribune, Sep 1 2026]