Tarrant’s Republican and Democratic chairs spoke at an NAACP meeting. Here’s how it went.
GOP chair Bo French and Democratic chair Crystal Gayden sat together to talk abortion, jail deaths and election integrity. The leaders of Tarrant County’s Republican and Democratic parties spoke at a political forum hosted by the Arlington branch of the NAACP. The event took place at the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church and was dominated by Democrats, with some clapping, booing and laughing. The forum was moderated by Jason E. Shelton, professor of sociology and director of the center for African American studies at UT Arlington. During the discussion, Republican chair Bo French highlighted a societal breakdown where people of all races lack respect for law enforcement. Democrat Crystal Gayden also addressed the need for expanded mental health services and jail reform. Both candidates also defended the Democratic Party's stance against abortion, stating that abortions are a form of health care.
Yayınlanan : 3 hafta önce ile Noah Alcala Bach içinde Politics
The leaders of Tarrant County’s Republican and Democratic parties talked abortion, jail deaths and election integrity at a political forum Tuesday hosted by the Arlington branch of the NAACP.
The event took place at the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church with a conversation between GOP chair Bo French and Democrat Crystal Gayden, moderated by Jason E. Shelton, professor of sociology and director of the center for African American studies at UT Arlington.
The forum was advertised as “neighbors engaged in good conversation,” and the phrase held true, for the most part.
Democrats in the crowd were the most vocal — clapping, booing and laughing while French spoke, to the point that the crowd needed to be reminded of “decorum.”
Despite the reactions, French and Gayden remained friendly, even cracking jokes between their responses.
When asked about the recent jail deaths, French opted not to get into specifics at the Tarrant County jail but broadened the question.
“When you talk about people dying in jail, this actually kind of goes on not just inside of jail, but outside of jail. We have a problem in our country where people don’t respect other people, and they don’t respect laws, and they don’t respect police,” French said. “This is not a racial thing, it is a societal thing. And I think we have a breakdown in our society where people don’t understand how to be a member of the civil society.”
French said that there are examples of people of all races not respecting law enforcement.
“You can get on YouTube and watch videos all day long — white people, Black people, Mexican people, whatever race you want to call it, getting shot by the police or beat up by the police because they’re not listening to the police,” French said. “I think if people had more respect for the authorities, we’d have fewer accidents.”
Gayden’s response focused on Tarrant County’s jail and the need for expanded mental health services. She also said there needs to be accountability for the recent deaths, such as Anthony Johnson Jr. in April.
“The accountability, that falls on the sheriff, period and point blank. There needs to be some type of jail reform to address what is happening. Whatever the culture is that is taking place in our jail system, it needs to be addressed,” Gayden said.
The candidates also spoke on abortion. Gayden defending the Democratic Party’s stance that it should be a woman’s right to choose and that abortions are a form of health care.
French explained how his religious and political views shape his stance against abortion and said that abortion was “explicitly started by racists who were trying to exterminate Black people,” which earned an averse reaction from the crowd.
“There are people that in this room that ought to take offense to that, because I take offense to that, I think that’s wrong,” French said in response.
The chairs also discussed the Tarrant County election integrity unit, which has received 70 complaints and investigated 12 in the past 17 months. There have been no prosecutions.
Gayden said that she did not think the integrity of Tarrant elections was an issue, but that voter suppression was, bringing up Crystal Mason, a Black woman who illegally cast a provisional ballot in 2016 and was prosecuted in 2018.
In March, the Texas Second Court of Appeals found Mason’s conviction should be overturned because she didn’t have actual knowledge that she couldn’t vote while on federal supervised release in a tax fraud case.
“I’m also concerned about voter intimidation. We all know the story of Crystal Mason, and the continued attack on trying to prosecute her, her case. For what reason is that? And other than an attempt to intimidate persons who look like her, who may come from similar backgrounds as her,” Gayden said.
French said he wasn’t privy to Mason’s case, which has received national attention.
“I don’t know all the details, but as I recall, in that one particular case, was she a felon, maybe, or something like that and she tried to vote? You know, you’re not allowed to vote if you’re a felon,” French said.
French attended and spoke at a May 8 Commissioners Court meeting when District Attorney Phil Sorrells briefed commissioners on why his office was seeking to reverse the appellate ruling.
Gayden also said that the election integrity unit was not looking into a fairly well-documented case in Mansfield, where conservative-backed Angel Hidalgo unsuccessfully ran for school board despite not being eligible.
“We do know about Angel Hidalgo and the fact that he basically lied. He was not eligible to vote, he put his name on the ballot, and yet there’s been no, to my understanding, investigation or prosecution attempts to address that particular issue,” Gayden said.
In April, the Star-Telegram reported that Hidalgo was ineligible to run for the seat because he was not registered to vote in the district by the deadline.
Hidalgo also cast a ballot in the Republican primary before his voter registration was active, which Mansfield residents reported to the election integrity unit.
French did not say anything on the topic of Hidalgo but has previously taken aim on social media at Jandel Crutchfield, who beat Hidalgo in the Mansfield school board election, saying she is “known for her radical racial activism,” in a thread where he sought to “uncover radical leftism in our local governments and all over the county.”
Someone in the audience asked the chairs whether they supported America’s involvement in international conflict.
Gayden said the question goes beyond the scope of Tarrant County issues but that she backs President Biden’s policy decision on the war in Gaza. Her response received a light, scattered applause.
French said he was opposed to America sending money to Ukraine and instead would rather see funding used to build a wall on the U.S. southern border, which received a wide applause. He did not address the Gaza war.
The forum lasted nearly two hours and roughly 100 people attended from both sides of the political aisle, filling the church aisles and pews.
The church’s pastor, Kennedy Jones, has been a critic of Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare, most recently for his comments to Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons — who represents Arlington — when the judge told her “you’ll sit there and be quiet” during a contentious exchange at an April meeting. But he preached bipartisanship Tuesday night.
“We have to look past our differences to work toward a common goal, a better life for all of us. We need to build trust in each other. For a better future for our children,” Jones said.
Jones also serves as president of the Arlington branch of the NAACP.
Jones closed the ceremony thanking both chairs and the attendees, adding “we are all Tarrant County citizens, no one lesser than the other.”
Nearly everyone in attendance gave French and Gayden a standing ovation.
Konular: GOP, Social Issues, NAACP, DNC