Big-City Mayor, a Long-Time Democrat, Says America Needs More Republicans, Then Switches Parties
The Democratic mayor of Dallas announced on Friday that he has switched political parties and will finish his second and final term as a Republican.
The mayor, Eric Johnson, also called on other civic leaders to embrace conservative ideas and said, “Democratic policies have exacerbated crime and homelessness.”
Johnson first was elected to the Texas State House as a Democrat in 2010. In 2019, he mounted a successful bid for mayor in his home city.
This past May, he was re-elected to another four-year term running the country’s ninth-largest city with 93 percent of the vote.
Friday, in an Op-Ed he wrote that was published in The Wall Street Journal, the 47-year-old broke the news that he has switched political parties, and he explained why.
In a piece headlined “America’s Cities Need Republicans, and I’m Becoming One,” Johnson explained that he wants Dallas to thrive as a safe place to live and a good place to do business.
He also celebrated that under his leadership, violent crime in the city of about 1.3 million people has dropped for two consecutive years.
“We have also reduced our property tax rate every year since I took office, signaling to investors that Dallas intends to remain the nation’s most pro-business city,” Johnson wrote.
The mayor said he doesn’t intend to govern any differently throughout the next four years than he did the last four.
The only thing that will be different, he explained, is that people in a city the size of Dallas will have the rare distinction of being led by a Republican.
“I have no intention of changing my approach to my job,” he explained. “But today I am changing my party affiliation. Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary. When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican.”
Johnson went on to explain that he expected people to be surprised by his decision. But he said each move he has made since 2019 has been about making his city a better place.
“I was never a favorite of the Democratic caucus [in the state House], and the feeling was mutual,” he wrote. “By the time I was elected mayor — a nonpartisan office — in 2019, I was relieved to be free from hyperpartisanship and ready to focus on solving problems.”
Johnson then explained why he decided to walk away from the Democratic Party, and he urged people in other cities to do the same.
He wrote:
“But I don’t believe I can stay on the sidelines any longer. I have always tried to be honest and say what I think is right for my city. The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism.
“Our cities desperately need the genuine commitment to these principles (as opposed to the inconsistent, poll-driven commitment of many Democrats) that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP.”
Johnson explained that as a whole, the country is increasingly less rural as more Americans have moved to cities since the early 20th century.
“In other words, American cities need Republicans—and Republicans need American cities,” the mayor wrote.
Johnson criticized Democrats for “virtue signaling” and for concocting “half-baked” proposals that he said are counterproductive.
But he vowed that he will not politicize his office and that he is willing to work with anyone who wants to make Dallas safe and prosperous.
The dynamics of his decision to walk away from his former party were not lost on the mayor.
Johnson concluded:
“Still, with my change in party affiliation, I recognize that the number of Republican mayors leading the nation’s 10 largest cities has increased from zero to one.
“This is hardly a red wave. But it is clear that the nation and its cities have reached a time for choosing. And the overwhelming majority of Americans who call our cities home deserve to have real choices—not “progressive” echo chambers—at city hall.”
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