Tarrant County Republicans and Democrats are urging supporters to vote at area events
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - "A week from tomorrow, Tarrant County is going to be bright, bright red," Senator Ted Cruz said.
Cruz told the crowd at the Shannon Brewing Company in Keller that he backed their candidate for County Judge Tim O'Hare.
"On Election Day, Tarrant County is going to elect my friend Tim O'Hare as County Judge," he said.
O'Hare told supporters, "We're going to give people property tax relief, our property taxes are too high, and we've got to cut them. I tell you what else I'm going to do: we're going to have the backs of law enforcement. We're going to support them to keep our streets safe."
At UT Arlington Monday morning, Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General Rochelle Garza told supporters a lot is at stake.
"Making sure that we allow Tarrant County to make decisions for themselves and that we respect local control," Garza said.
Democratic candidate for Tarrant County Judge Deborah Peoples spoke about her priorities in the closing days of the campaign.
"Bring everybody to the table," Peoples said. "It is continuing to grow the economy. People need jobs, and they need well-paying jobs. It is focusing on public health and make sure we have a healthy workforce and a healthy community."
Peoples and O'Hare are vying to succeed long-time Republican County Judge Glen Whitley, who's retiring this year. He isn't backing either candidate.
Tarrant County is the largest Republican County in Texas and perhaps the country, and Republicans here want to keep it that way.
But Democrats want to change that, pointing to Joe Biden's win in the county in 2020 and Beto O'Rourke's win against Cruz in 2018.
Political analysts say the county is growing more competitive, but that President Biden's unpopularity in the polls in Texas may prove challenging for Democrats this year.
Both Democrats and Republicans say there are key issues that will help them win Tarrant County.
For Democrat Pam Durham, those elections include elections and reproductive rights.
"The issue is to use our voice and to make our democracy safe," Durham said. "That's what's on the ballot right now. And that's very important to me because we're seeing our rights taken away."
For Republican Dan Jones, it's a variety of issues.
"The defunding of the police, I don't agree with that," Jones said. "The border, inflation and all the expenses going on right now. Just seems like a total mess."
Despite a slow start to early voting, campaigns are predicting a record turnout for a midterm election.