Nekhom leads unopposed in Tarrant County criminal court race

Deborah Nekhom, a Republican, leads with 294,630 votes, or 100% of votes counted, in the uncontested race for Tarrant County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge, Court 4, according to unofficial results from Tarrant County Elections. Zero of 864 reporting units had reported as of the last update.

NBC DFW did not list the Court 4 race among Tarrant County's contested races for the Nov. 3 general election.

What was at stake

Tarrant County's criminal courts-at-law hear criminal cases. According to her campaign website, Nekhom has served on the Court 4 bench since January 2003, when she took office after first winning election in 2002. Her campaign site states her court has handled more than 40,000 cases.

The key issues:

• Nekhom's campaign site says she has presided over a specialty DWI misdemeanor court program and previously presided over the Tarrant County DIRECT drug court program for seven years.
• Her campaign describes her as one of two county court judges in Tarrant County certified as experts in criminal law.
• Her campaign also says she is bilingual and speaks Spanish fluently.

The Court 4 judge handles criminal cases that affect Tarrant County residents, including those in the northeast Tarrant communities of Southlake, Colleyville and Grapevine.

A little history

Nekhom first won election to the bench in 2002, according to her campaign website. Before taking the bench, she worked as an attorney at the Law Office of Deborah Nekhom from 1990 to 2002, according to BallotReady. She earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1988, according to the same source.

What's next

The results remain unofficial until the canvass is complete. The Brennan Center for Justice notes that for local and county races, the canvassing authority must finish the canvass no later than Nov. 17. Eligible mail ballots postmarked by Election Day, provisional ballots and military and overseas ballots may still be counted before the canvass is complete.

Election results: Tarrant County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge - Court 4 (Texas General Election, 2026-11-03)

Source: Tarrant County Elections. Results current as of Nov. 3, 2026, 7:06 p.m. CST. Reporting: 0 of 864. Unofficial results; the count is not complete.