Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced Friday he’s changing his political party affiliation and will be voting in the Republican primary next spring. But the office of mayor — as well as city council members — are nonpartisan elected officials. So what is Johnson really trying to say?
It almost definitely means a bid for higher office. Johnson, 47, served as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives from 2010 to 2019, when he was elected mayor of Dallas. The Harvard grad often alludes to his days in the Texas House from the horseshoe of the Dallas City Council.
It appears the party switch, announced in the Wall Street Journal and almost immediately picked up by seemingly every news outlet around the country, is Johnson’s nod to fiscal conservancy. The mayor was one of five elected officials who voted against the city’s largest budget in history last week, based on a meager property tax decrease that he said would provide little relief to homeowners.
“It is preposterous to suggest that our city government could not, by being more efficient, deliver essential services next year using the same amount of tax revenue collected from Dallas residents and businesses just a year ago,” Johnson said after the budget vote.
The Road to The GOP
Speculation about Johnson’s party switch has been swirling for months, most significantly when he invited Republican U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to his inauguration.
Johnson’s announcement makes Dallas the largest city in the U.S. with a Republican mayor, according to the Texas Tribune. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker is also a Republican.
Former Dallas City Councilman Phillip Kingston predicted Friday that the mayor will resign in 2025 and make a run for Texas attorney general.
daltxrealestate.com reached out to local builders and real estate experts for reactions to the announcement.
Linda McMahon, president and CEO of The Real Estate Council, thanked us for the inquiry but said she had no comment. Others didn’t respond at all, but there was no shortage of opinions on the social media platform X.
Dallas County Democratic Party chairman Kardal Coleman said the mayor’s party switch was an “insult to the electorate.”
“This switch is the launch of a self-centered agenda that puts politics over people,” Coleman said.
Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center founder Mark Melton called the mayor a charlatan.
But others welcomed him to the “right side of history.”
“He’s pro-law enforcement and won’t tolerate leftist agendas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a public statement. “Two of the 10 largest cities in America now have Republican mayors and they are both in Texas.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also hailed the decision.
“Mayor Eric Johnson announced he is switching to the Republican Party,” Patrick said. “He’s a good man. Welcome to our party.”
