Candidate Accuses Dallas County Commissioner of Leveraging Mosque Polling Locations for Elections

A Dallas County Commissioner candidate is sounding the alarms on the current Commissioner for District 2 bragging about having mosques as polling locations to help elect Democrats. 

Barry Wernick, a candidate for Dallas County Commissioner District 2, is running against current Commissioner for District 2 Andrew Sommerman, and has compiled video evidence and other documentation showing how his opponent has allegedly bragged about helping get mosques as polling locations. 

“Polling locations should be chosen for convenience, accessibility, and impartiality—not turned into political weapons,” Wernick said in a press release. “The record shows Sommerman muscled these changes through to aid his re-election by shifting polling locations to mosques affiliated with groups that reject Texas and American values.” 

Sommerman has served District 2 since 2023, and is an election and voter protection lawyer, where he says he “fights Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression,” according to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Survey. 

According to Wernick’s site, Sommerman was heard during a re-election campaign kickoff saying he takes credit for opening three mosques as polling locations. 

“Three mosques have been opened up since I’ve been there. And what difference does that make? The answer is a number of people voting for the first time in the last election,” Sommerman was heard saying. “Almost every one of these voters voted Democrat. We know that.” 

“That means that those mosques and those new voters were the difference in making sure that Tina Clinton was elected,” he added. Tina Clinton is a Democrat judge who won a tight race for a place on the Dallas County Appeals Court in 2024. 

In another video, Sommerman was heard again celebrating having the mosques as polling locations to advance Democrats. 

Sommerman explained how different mosques around Dallas County helped Clinton get elected, citing examples from the Garland and Carrollton mosques, where he stated that, “any one of those mosques can say collectively or individually, we chose that candidate. We decided that election.” 

Sommerman also pointed to the 2023 Richardson mayoral election, where he claims that the election was decided by the Islamic Association of North Texas, where Bob Dubey beat Janet DePuy. 

In the most recent Richardson mayoral election, Sommerman once again states that the IANT chose the candidate, where Amir Omar beat Dubey in May 2025. 

“So you can see how again and again, the fact that we opened up mosques is so important and gives the Muslim community a certain amount of power,” said Sommerman. “You are choosing candidates yourselves and as a result, it becomes all the more important.” 

Sommerman stated he has not received any money from the Muslim community, emphasizing that he chose to open the mosques as voting locations because he “felt it was important” to do so. 

Sommerman did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Signal. 

The controversy doesn’t stem from mosques being used as a polling place, as churches and synagogues can lawfully serve as polling places. The problem arises, as Wernick details, because the polling locations are tied to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has been designated by Gov. Greg Abbott as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the state of Texas. 

Wernick’s site provides evidence to show how controversial having the mosques as permanent polling locations is. 

In May 2025, RAIR Foundation USA, sounded the alarm on the Islamic Association of North Texas holding an event, hosted by the Islamic Association of North America and other left-wing groups titled: “From Marxism to Islam: The Revolutionary Road of Allah.” 

“The event openly promoted the concept of transitioning from Marxist ideology to Islam, drawing attention from concerned community members and activists who warn that this reflects a deeper ideological collaboration between radical left-wing and Islamic movements, known as the Red-Green Alliance,” RAIR Foundation USA reported. 

The RAIR Foundation USA also reported on the event, sharing that the speakers presented Islam as a “standing army,” that Muslims living in America are told they may remain in the U.S. to “establish the Deen” (implement Islamic law), and that Islam and Western society cannot coexist. 

CAIR, IANA, and IANT did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Signal. 

Wernick told the Daily Signal that the issue is not about the building’s faith, but Sommerman’s conduct. 

“In this case the county commissioner used polling locations as a political weapon for partisan advantage,” Wernick said. “Why? So he doesn’t have to run on his own record, which is abysmal. He knows the only way he can win is by rigging the system.” 

“The incumbent brags about taking proactive measures to move polling locations to the mosques to ensure he gets re-elected. And he is actually campaigning and fundraising off it,” Wernick added. 

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