Career
O'Hare previously owned a personal injury law firm. [2]
In 2021, O'Hare and Leigh Wambsganss earned national acclaim among conservatives for their work co-founding the Southlake Families PAC, a group that promotes itself as "unapologetically rooted in Judeo-Christian values" and fought against the Carroll Independent School District's diversity plan to crack down on racism and anti-LGBTQ bullying. The group raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a slate of school board candidates who promised to kill the plan and 70% of its endorsed candidates won their races. [5] [6] [7]
Mayor of Farmers Branch
He was elected unopposed to the city council of Farmers Branch in 2005, then served as the city's mayor from 2008 until his resignation in 2011. [8]
In 2011, O'Hare proposed a referendum to make a new municipal Farmers Branch school district by merging the city's portion in the Carrolton-Farmers Branch and Dallas Independent School District. At the time, the city did not have the 8,000 children required under Texas law as a requirement for forming a new district, so KTVT stated, "Even if the proposal had passed, there would have been little, if anything, the city could have done to move forward." About 66% of voters decided against the referendum. [9]
In 2006, O'Hare introduced numerous ordinances targeting the city's growing undocumented immigrant and Latino community, including: requiring proof of citizenship to rent, establish English as the city's official language, and to enable local police to check immigration status as well as enforce immigration law. By 2012, the city had engaged in a protracted legal fight in courts defending the constitutionality of the ordinances, spending over $5 million on legal fees and retained Kris Kobach as counsel. [10] Writing for International Migration , Brettell and Nibbs contextualized O'Hare's ordinances as part of a growing "Latino threat narrative" stating that he had scapegoated the city's lagging home appreciation on undocumented, largely Latino immigrants. [11] In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court ruling that declared the ordinance unconstitutional. [12]
Tarrant County Judge
In 2022, O'Hare ran for County Judge of Tarrant County. He defeated former Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price, who was supported by incumbent judge B. Glen Whitley and Mattie Parker, in the Republican primary with the support of Donald Trump. [13] He was elected in the general election, defeating Democratic nominee Deborah Peoples with 53% of the vote. [3] Writing for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram , Abby Church said "O’Hare’s induction onto the commissioners court marks a transition in Tarrant County politics. The county has largely been governed by middle-right leadership from Whitley, a Republican, and Tom Vandergriff, who was county judge for 16 years before Whitley. With O’Hare, the county takes a sharper turn to the right." [14]
In 2024, O'Hare was a speculated candidate for retiring U.S. Representative Kay Granger's 12th district seat, but opted to remain in his position. [15]
In May 2025, when there were two Democrats and two Republicans on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, O'Hare declared that the ongoing process of redistricting Tarrant County precincts was "purely 100% about partisan politics", as he detailed that "my plan and what I campaigned on openly and publicly, dating as far back as May 2021", is to "pass a map that guarantees, or comes as close as you can to guarantee, three Republican commissioners" in Tarrant County out of four, as O'Hare thought that "Tarrant County would be better served if we have strong Republican leadership". [16] [17]
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