Mattie Parker

When developers wax poetic about how much easier it is to get things done in Fort Worth as opposed to its more cosmopolitan neighbor, they typically credit Mayor Parker. 

During her tenure, Fort Worth has continued its rapid population growth, surpassing the size of Austin, crossing the 1 million resident-mark and becoming the 11th largest city in the U.S. She’s made a name for herself as a business-friendly local politician by securing incentives for companies wishing to locate in Fort Worth and by addressing city processes like permitting.

Parker’s tenure was also marked by a major win for Panther Island, the decades-old $1.2 billion flood mitigation project that aims to create commercial development opportunities just north of downtown. Funding was part of former President Joe Biden’s 2022 infrastructure bill. Incidentally, Rep. Granger, Panther Island’s biggest congressional champion, voted against it. 

While the mayor position is a nonpartisan one, Parker is a Republican, though much more centrist than her Texas Republican peers. Even though she nabbed the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott before her win, her mayoral leadership serves to put a lid on the populist Trump loyalism of her county-level counterpart, Tim O’Hare. 

— Jess Hardin