DALLAS — Elections administrators aren’t usually known by name.
But Dallas County just hired one.
Heider Garcia, who previously led Tarrant County, will become Dallas County’s new elections chief on December 20.
He is one of the most respected elections administrators in the country.
“I don’t intend to make Dallas a new Tarrant, or anything like that,” Garcia told us on Inside Texas Politics. “It has its own identity and it’s important for me to get there, and as a leader, get to know them and then set course for whatever next steps we want take.”
Garcia says one of his goals is to increase transparency in Dallas County. He says he's looking to make tweaks instead of a complete overhaul because he thinks the county was already on the right track under Michael Scarpello, who’s led Dallas County elections since 2020.
Garcia says these days, residents have a high level of interest in public records.
“People want to be able to verify that elections are properly run. And I think making those processes easier and more accessible to people are going to definitely help that cause of increasing transparency,” he said.
Garcia also discussed his high profile departure from Tarrant County earlier this year. He submitted his letter of resignation after a meeting with Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who had launched an Election Integrity Task Force, despite no evidence of voter fraud.
In that letter, Garcia wrote “…my formula to ‘administer a quality transparent election’ stands on respect and zero politics; compromising on these values is not an option for me. You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision is to leave.”
“I did not feel comfortable with that conversation. I felt if this is your vision of it, then I’m not your person to be here,” Garcia told us. “And he’s the elected. He won every right to sit in that chair. I counted those ballots. It was a fair and square election. So, if that’s the direction he wants to go, then it just wasn’t for me to stay there and challenge that.”
Garcia still lives in Tarrant County and says he’s completely confident in how the elections are being run there now.
And like a true pro, he also reminded everyone that early voting starts Monday, October 23.
The constitutional amendment election is November 7.