WaPo: “The mayor of Dallas is switching parties after serving in public office for years as a Democrat, making the north Texas city the country’s largest led by a Republican.
Eric Johnson, a former Democratic Texas state lawmaker, wrote in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he was switching parties because “too many Democrats insist on virtue signaling,” and argued that Democratic policies have not sufficiently addressed crime and homelessness….
Some local Democratic leaders were not surprised by the move, saying the mayor had governed more toward the center than they felt Dallas voters wanted. Johnson recently voted against the city’s nearly $5 billion budget passed by the city council, citing insufficient cuts of the property tax rate, and has supported anti-crime initiatives.
“He’s proven to be what we thought he was,” Kardal Coleman, chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, told The Washington Post. “It’s an insult to the voters in the city of Dallas, who were sold on a bait and switch. Mayor Johnson is abandoning his values and, unfortunately, the people and voters of Dallas.”
Share this articleNo subscription required to readShare
President Biden won Dallas County handily in 2020, beating Donald Trump by more than 30 percentage points.
Statewide Democrats similarly criticizedJohnson’s party switch, adding that they were grateful Johnson left the party.
“Given his long-standing affinity with Republican leaders and ideology … this announcement is neither surprising nor unwelcome,” wrote Gilberto Hinojosa and Shay Wyrick Cathey, respectively the chair and vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party, in a joint statement. “But the voters of Dallas deserved to know where he stood before he ran for reelection as Mayor.””