Congressman Marc Veasey dropped out of the race for Tarrant County judge Monday evening, just one week after announcing a bid for the seat.<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth Democrat, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2012, will serve the remainder of his term that expires in January. The deadline to run for the congressional District 33 he represents passed, which means Veasey cannot run for reelection.<\/p>\n
His congressional district was one of five that Texas lawmakers redrew to favor Republican candidates at President Donald Trump\u2019s directive in an effort to retain and strengthen a GOP majority in the U.S. House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, my responsibility is to stay in Congress and continue the fight where the stakes are highest \u2014 holding Donald Trump accountable, pushing back against MAGA extremism, and defending the Democratic values our community depends on,\u201d Veasey wrote in a statement. \u201cThat is where I believe I can do the most good, and that is the work I intend to continue until the end of my term.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Veasey\u2019s decision to drop out means Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons will face only Millennium Anton C. Woods for the Democratic nomination in the March primary election. Business owner Lydia Bean dropped out of the race Dec. 8, the same evening that Veasey announced his campaign<\/a>. Incumbent County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare, seeking his second term, is being challenged by precinct chair Robert Buker for the Republican nomination.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither O\u2019Hare nor Simmons immediately returned requests for comment Monday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veasey\u2019s run for county judge came as a surprise to many, as political analysts expected him to announce<\/a> he was running for District 30 after Texas\u2019 redrawn congressional maps pushed his District 33 entirely into Dallas County.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many speculated he would seek Rep. Jasmine Crockett\u2019s District 30, which stretches into Tarrant County. She announced plans to run for the U.S. Senate<\/a>, prompting a shift in which offices Democrats were seeking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veasey\u2019s announcement last week \u2014 shortly after Simmons also announced a bid for the county judge seat<\/a> \u2014 immediately drew criticism from some local Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics argued that Veasey was attempting to steal the seat from Simmons, who has experience on the commissioners court.<\/p>\n Veasey said he was filing for that race because he refused to \u201csit on the sidelines while County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare drags this community backward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not running away from a fight \u2014 I\u2019m running toward the next battle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This is a developing story.<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a> and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n