Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced Friday that he is switching to the Republican Party, making the city the largest in the U.S. to be led by a GOP mayor.
via: BET
Johnson announced his new affiliation in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which he blamed Democratic policies for “exacerbated crime and homelessness.”
“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,” Johnson wrote. “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.”
“In other words, American cities need Republicans—and Republicans need American cities.”
The shift makes Johnson the only Republican mayor of the 10 most populated cities in the U.S., and Dallas is a Democratic-leaning city where he won reelection with 93 percent of the popular vote. The Texas Democratic Party accused Johnson of misleading voters earlier this year.
“[T]he voters of Dallas deserved to know where he stood before he ran for reelection as Mayor,” Gilberto Hinojosa and Shay Wyrick Cathey, chair and vice-chair of the party, wrote in a joint statement. “He wasn’t honest with his constituents, and knew he would lose to a Democrat if he flipped before the election.”
“This feeble excuse for democratic representation will fit right in with Republicans — and we are grateful that he can no longer tarnish the brand and values of the Texas Democratic Party.”
Social media users are calling Johnson’s flip “shameful” and saying that he should resign.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson (@Johnson4Dallas) just betrayed voters after being re-elected, announcing he is switching parties from Democratic to Republican.
This is shameful. pic.twitter.com/np3AgVtQV7
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) September 22, 2023
