Dispatch from Tarrant County, Texas: Civic Cartographers and the Unknown Path Ahead for Local Politics

Today marks the end of early voting in our municipal and local elections. The city of Fort Worth, and the 6th Congressional District of Texas, are fielding a vast swath of candidates vying for election, and in Arlington, an open seat unexpectedly vacated by the death of a long-serving incumbent, has drawn a frenzied field of over a dozen candidates.

Historically, among the 6%-8% of voters who turn out to vote at this time of year, about two-thirds cast their ballots early.

Some incumbents this year — my opponent, among them — were elected by default just shy of four years ago. In the time since, to the best of their ability, they’ve been serving their constituency in good faith.

I’m very proud of the fact that in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD races, we’ve focused on positive campaigning, running on policies, issues, and our vision for the future.

In filing for school board, my sentiment is best expressed by quoting the late Robert F. Kennedy, when he announced his candidacy for The Presidency of The United States in 1968.

He did not run “merely to oppose any man but to propose new policies.”

Democracy is about choice and competition in a sphere of ideological exchange, discussion, and interaction with those among whom we live, work, and worship.

I view politics at its heart, not about the theatre, eloquent speeches or elevator pitches, but about the difference to be made in the everyday lives of ordinary people.

It is an essential element of the civic process to preserve Democracy, and the values it entails — Free Speech, Liberty, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law.

This election in duality is both typically mundane and extraordinarily historic. It is a sojourn for us, perhaps now more than at any point in modern times. We are not just politicians, but civic cartographers.

This will be the first General Election here since the chaotic, prolonged, and divisive battle that divided our country, and continues to have effects felt and friendships and family relationships damaged to this day.

This will be the first General Election here since January 6th’s violent insurrection in our Nation’s Capitol, which tested our resolve as a Republic.

All of this, amidst a once in a century pandemic that continues to pervade our lives, as we carry grief in our hearts and the collective pain of loss in our souls.

Yet in spite of all this — today, thousands of Texans will vote and are doing so as I write, at this very moment.

And on Election Day this Saturday, we’ll see where we are headed, and move forward together — as generations have done before us, and as future generations will continue to do, long after we are gone.

Vote.

B.A. Mulligan