Texas County Hires Right-Wing Law Firm to Defend Gerrymandered Map

Officials in one of Texas’ largest counties voted Tuesday to hire a national right-wing law firm to defend its own gerrymandered map, which was produced by the firm and approved by Republicans last month despite hours of testimony from outraged public speakers who argued the changes were unnecessary and would disenfranchise Black and Latino residents.

“This is essentially hiring the arsonist to put out the fire,” Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said.

In a 3-2 party-line vote, Republicans on Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a $250,000 contract with the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), a leading Washington-D.C.-based anti-voting law firm that the county previously hired to oversee the mid-decade redistricting project that is now being challenged in court. PILF then brought in Adam Kincaid, who Politico recently described as the GOP’s mapmaking expert in the states where Republicans control redistricting.

The new map would change the boundaries of the county’s four commissioner precincts. Republicans claim their objective is to gain an additional seat on Commissioners Court, not discriminate against voters based on race. 

Minority voters quickly sued the county, alleging violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and asking the court to block the map from going into effect.

On Tuesday, Republicans approved the new contract with PILF over opposition from the two Democrats serving on Commissioners Court. 

Democratic Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. said he opposed hiring PILF based on how it conducted the process of creating the map.

“The Public Interest Legal Foundation was neither transparent with this court, nor accessible to the public throughout the redistricting process,” Miles said. “Residents asked questions and received no answers.”

PILF representatives failed to attend the meeting when the map was adopted, as well as community meetings about the proposals. 

Furthermore, hiring PILF to defend its own work in court could be a prohibited conflict of interest, Simmons said.

“It would violate the Texas legal ethics rule that an attorney cannot represent a party in a case in which they will be a witness,” Simmons said. “PILF certainly will be a witness with regard to information it gathered, public comments it received and the drawing of the maps.”

County Judge Tim O’Hare – a Republican who serves as the county’s chief executive, not an actual judge – was quick to dismiss the point. 

“I would be stunned if a judge said you could recuse this firm because they’re ‘a witness,’” O’Hare said. “Otherwise a lawyer is a witness to every single thing that ever happens.”

A representative with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office told commissioners during the meeting that the office does not have an issue with the contract.

Simmons, who is up for re-election in 2026, could lose her seat if courts allow the county to use the new map. A far-right member of the State House announced his candidacy for the seat immediately after the map was adopted.