TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — After years of service as the Tarrant County judge overseeing one of the largest local government budgets in the state, Glen Whitley is speaking out about reactions to a tweet he sent on March 2, following the Tuesday primary race.
The well-respected leader in the Republican party received kick-back he didn't expect. But Whitley felt strongly about, what he believes, was unnecessary roughness during the primary campaign period.
"I was disappointed in the campaign," said Whitley.
He explained his tweet and why he thought it set off a firestorm of comments.
Whitely tweeted about hoping the race for his successor will shift from mudslinging to focus on serious topics in the county.
"I always am frustrated by campaigns where the candidate spends more time attacking the person that's running, as opposed to talking about what they have done," said Whitley.
The soon-to-retire politician is referring to his political party's candidates Betsy Price and primary winner Tim O'Hare. Both candidates sought his support.
"Tim had come and visited with me early last year and had asked me if I was going to run again. I told him, no. He said he wanted to run, and he asked me for his support," said Whitley.
Whitley said no, and eventually came under attack himself in the Twitter comments. There are tweet replies not only from obvious Democratic voters, but even Republican voters weighed-in to criticize Whitley.
"And my wife always tells me never read the comments," said Whitley.
The judge only decided to read the replies and comments hours after he made the post. He doesn't take the comments to heart and accepts that everyone has a right to their opinion.
One Twitter user replied to the judge saying, "You moved Moderate, we are Conservatives!"
Another comment read, "You should take ownership in her loss, your loss."
One other person replied, "It's time for change in Tarrant County and the votes show that."
"I would have expected the comments to have been from people who were very adamantly for or against one of the candidates," Whitley said. "So again, I, I take all the comments with a grain of salt."
Whoever succeeds Whitley, he is urging them to put politics aside.
Although he has decided not to seek reelection, Whitley plans to make the most of the time he will spend in the next few months as Tarrant County judge. He plans to remain on the job through Dec. 31, 2022.
Tarrant County is one of the fastest growing municipalities in the country, and Texas has one of the largest growths in registered voters in the U.S.
"Do those things to unite everyone," said Whitley.
He believes his successor should be prepared to serve all Tarrant County residents.