Fort Worth will have yet another new council member after District 4’s Cary Moon announced his run for the state Legislature Tuesday. Fort Worth’s city charter requires Moon to relinquish his seat in order to run for the Texas Legislature’s District 93 seat held by State Rep. Matt Krause. He can serve in an acting position until his replacement is selected in May 2022. Krause announced on Sept. 16 he was running for Texas State Attorney General, opening up the seat for Moon to run.
His first hurdle will be winning the Republican nomination in the March 2022 primary. Moon said he was confident in his chances given the overlap between his city council district and the Texas House’s 93rd District.
District 93 includes parts of Fort Worth and Arlington. Krause is one of a handful of candidates running for Texas Attorney General and made headlines last week for launching an investigation into school districts' books on race and sexuality.
Moon was first elected to the city council in 2015 and is the second longest-serving member after Mayor Pro-Tem Gyna Bivens. He ran and defeated Danny Scarth for his seat on the council in 2015, and will enter the race as a pro-business conservative with a vision to reform Texas’ property tax model, as well as defend the interests of Fort Worth in Austin.
“My heart is in Fort Worth and though my job would be at the Texas Capitol, I will still stay close to City Hall,” Moon said. “It’s an opportunity to serve Fort Worth at the next level.
“There’s been many times Fort Worth has lost battles in Austin because maybe our legislators didn’t have a good understanding of the impact to Fort Worth. I plan on fighting and winning those battles because I have a better understanding.”
That might have been a swipe at his presumed rival Laura Hill, the former Southlake mayor — nicknamed “Mom Mayor” — who has said she, too, will run as a Republican.
Moon was the subject of scrutiny after being arrested for a DWI in 2020, and then again earlier this month when he was accused of violating his terms of probation stemming from that arrest.
He violated the terms of his probation by drinking alcohol, failing to submit to urinalysis testing, failing to complete community service and traveling out of state without permission, according to court documents. Moon’s ignition interlock device recorded high alcohol readings 12 times from June 2 to July 2 and five times from July 21-Sept. 10, according to court records. Moon is fighting the accusation.
The Heritage-area councilman was also roundly criticized for taking more money from the Fort Worth Police Officers Association than any other City Council candidate.
Moon will continue to hold his seat until a replacement is sworn in after the May 2022 election. Candidates have until Feb. 18, 2022, to file for that election.
ER Nurse Tara Wilson, who came in second against Moon in May 2021, announced her plans Tuesday to run for the District 4 seat again in May 2022.
“It is my pleasure once again to run for this seat and serve the residents of District 4. Fort Worth residents are ready for leaders who will elevate the voices that have been the most impacted by the pandemic, as we continue recovering and build back our economy and our communities,” she said in a press release. “As someone who has been serving on the front lines of this pandemic both in and outside of the ER, I have a unique skill set that has prepared me to serve our communities.”
Wilson is a progressive who has already been endorsed by recently-elected Fort Worth school board member Roxanna Martinez.
So far, Moon hasn’t endorsed any candidate to replace him and no Republican has announced their intention to run.
After the most recent election, there was major turnover on the nine-member Council this year. A new mayor and six new councilmembers took the city’s reigns. The only incumbents to hold on to their sets were Gyna Bivens, Carlos Flores and Moon.
That stands in stark contrast to the 2019 election, when every single Council member retained their seats.