Veronica Chavez Law wins race for open Tarrant County College board seat

Veronica Chavez Law, an attorney with decades of experience, has secured the Tarrant County College District 7 board seat, with all 160 voting centers reported.

Chavez Law earned 52% of the vote, with Cary Cheshire receiving 29.5% and Hunter Crow receiving 18.5% of about 12,200 votes cast. There was low voter turnout reported across the county. 

“I look forward to helping TCC fulfill its mission and pursue its vision. I’m honored that the voters in District 7 believed I was the best candidate to represent them,” Chavez Law said after final voting results came in. “I’m very excited to be part of the board of trustees!”

Chavez Law, who was endorsed by Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, outgoing Tarrant County Board Trustee Kenneth Barr and other prominent political leaders, leads Cheshire, vice chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party who was endorsed by Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and other prominent Republican elected officials. Crow, an undergraduate library assistant, graduated from Tarrant County College and was a student leader at the college. 

Chavez Law, who led the others in campaign contributions, will serve a six-year term on the board to represent the TCU area, southwest Fort Worth and Benbrook.

There are seven seats on the TCC board, which is the governing body for Tarrant County College, a community college system with nearly 47,500 students across the county. The board provides final approval for district policies, budget, faculty and staff appointments, the chancellor’s performance, construction and for all other matters of district development and operation. The 2024-25 budget for the college is $421 million. District representatives serve six-year terms.

Chavez Law said that she will be the only attorney on the board. She will represent the six-campus community college system at a time of change for higher education, with increasing oversight from the state and federal level, with a recent state law for community college funding and state and federal scrutiny on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 

“SB 17 is a law, and I think that in all situations, TCC needs to follow the law,” said Chavez Law at a candidate forum organized by the Fort Worth Report. “Tarrant County has a diverse community, and everybody needs to have an opportunity for the accessible and affordable education that Tarrant County College provides. If we keep that accessible and affordable, the student body will be diverse.”

Gwendolyn Morrison, who has represented the district since 1976, ran unopposed for the District 6 spot. 

This story was updated with the final voting results at 11:20 p.m. on May 3.

Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at [email protected].

The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Science Center.

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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