Dallas mayor switches from Democratic to Republican Party

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson introduced Friday that he’s switching his celebration association and turning into a Republican, bringing up disconnects with the Democratic Party on crime coverage.

Johnson introduced the transfer in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. It makes Dallas the biggest town within the nation with a Republican mayor, passing neighboring Fort Worth.

“Today I am changing my party affiliation. Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary,” Johnson wrote. “When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican.”

Though he wrote that the transfer would possibly come as a wonder to many, few Dallas Democrats seemed to be stunned by way of the transfer.

Texas Democratic Party management referred to as the transfer “welcome” and mentioned he was once cheating for operating as a Democrat for his reelection in May this 12 months.

“Given his long-standing affinity with Republican leaders and ideology … this announcement is neither surprising nor unwelcome,” the celebration wrote in a statement. “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.”

Dallas state Rep. John Bryant, a Democrat, additionally piled on in opposition to the mayor.

“Switching parties? I didn’t know he was a Democrat,” Bryant said on X, the platform previously referred to as Twitter.

In the op-ed, Johnson particularly cites crime and tax coverage as causes for breaking from Democrats. The Dallas mayor’s administrative center is nominally nonpartisan, and Johnson has driven for primary police expansions and different anti-crime measures as mayor.

“I don’t believe I can stay on the sidelines any longer,” he wrote. “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.”

“Unfortunately, many of our cities are in disarray. Mayors and other local elected officials have failed to make public safety a priority or to exercise fiscal restraint,” he endured. “Most of these local leaders are proud Democrats who view cities as laboratories for liberalism rather than as havens for opportunity and free enterprise.”

Dallas is considered one of Democrats’ strongholds in purple Texas; Dallas County voted in prefer of President Biden by way of a 32-point margin within the 2020 election. The simplest primary Texas county that had a more potent Democratic lead was once Travis County, which comprises Austin.