Tarrant County
County Commissioner, Precinct 4
Nydia Cardenas
Democratic- On ballot as
- Nydia Cardenas
- Current role
- Leadership coach and organizational development consultant; founder, The Energy Takeback (leadership coaching practice)
- Background
- Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering, Stanford University (per her questionnaire)
- Master of Business Administration, University of Michigan (per her questionnaire)
- Born and raised in Fort Worth (per candidate)
- Fort Worth public schools; graduate, North Side High School (per candidate)
- Age 40 (per her questionnaire, October 2026)
- Experience
- Co-founder and facilitator, the 817 Gather
- Former vice president of customer experience, tech startup (per campaign)
- Worked with small-business programs (per campaign)
- Frequent public speaker, Tarrant County Commissioners Court meetings
- First-time candidate (per her questionnaire)
- Top priorities
- "Lead with compassion, not cruelty": "I will push for independent jail oversight and full transparency for in-custody deaths"
- "Bring representation back to representative government": "I will restore twice-monthly Commissioners Court meetings"
- "Invest in community resilience": "restore county-run health services, expand mental health care, fight for property tax reform that protects homeowners"
- On the biggest issue: "Affordability"
- Tidbits
- Property taxes and budget: In a candidate questionnaire: "I will push TAD to return to annual reappraisals, maximize homestead exemptions" (TAD is the Tarrant Appraisal District)
- Growth and infrastructure: In a candidate questionnaire: "I would require infrastructure to be built concurrently with development"
- Flooding and drainage: On development outpacing infrastructure, in a candidate questionnaire: "Drainage systems are overwhelmed."
- Public safety: In a candidate questionnaire: "I will push for independent jail oversight and full transparency for in-custody deaths, expand mental health crisis response"
Claims and the record- Controversies: None found in the news coverage we reviewed
- Endorsements
- Working Families Party (listed by campaign)
- Tarrant County Young Democrats (listed by campaign)
- Sunrise Tarrant (listed by campaign)
- Cowtown Democrats (listed by campaign)
- Run for Something (listed by campaign)
- SEIU Texas (listed by campaign)
- Campaign website
- vote4nydia.com
Open in the full comparison: Tarrant County