Breaking Friday, the Democratic mayor of Dallas, Eric Johnson, made a huge announcement: he is switching political affiliations and joining the Republican Party. Johnson’s reasoning for the huge career change involves what he believes are failures of progressive policies, particularly in combating crime, homelessness, drugs and immigration. “When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican. I realize this will come as a surprise to many,” Johnson wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
“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 made a particularly daring statement: “In other words, American cities need Republicans — and Republicans need American cities.” National Review reports that in recent months, Johnson has become increasingly vocal about declining public safety, specifically across urban areas.
Earlier this year, Johnson shared an article arguing that the mass retirement within the Austin, Texas police force was driven by the “Defund the Police” movement. In December 2021, as other American cities were wracked by violence and reeling from the global pandemic, Dallas managed a nearly 10 percent reduction in violent crime, which Johnson claimed resulted from “a budget that reflects public safety being your city’s top priority,” that was reinforced by “community buy-in.”
“We’ve done things that we need to do in the moment that we take public safety seriously here,” he told Fox News Digital at the time. “And I think that, you know, sort of flies in the face with some cities that have done in response to some of the defund the police movement and whatnot.”
Texas governor Greg Abbott supported Johnson’s move, posting on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, “Texas is getting more Red every day. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson switches to Republican Party. He’s pro law enforcement & won’t tolerate leftist agendas. Two of the 10 largest cities in America now have Republican Mayors & they are both in Texas.”