Only four months after winning re-election as a longtime Democrat, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced that he was defecting to the Republican party. Before assuming office, Johnson served nearly a decade in the Texas Legislature as a Democrat — making his decision to switch parties all the more shocking.
On Friday, Johnson announced his decision in an 0p-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “Today I am changing my party affiliation,” wrote Johnson. “Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary. When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican.”
In his op-ed, Johnson says that he won 98.7% of the vote in his re-election. Although it’s worth noting that was when he was running as a registered Democrat in a county that President Joe Biden overwhelmingly carried. The mayoral position is technically non-partisan, but it’s hard to argue that running as a registered Democrat in a deep-blue county didn’t have some impact on the vote.
Johnson criticized Democratic leadership, arguing that Democratic mayors (of which he was one until a few hours ago) have allowed cities to crumble into “disarray” and lawlessness. Johnson also pats himself on the back for standing up against the defund the police movement.
Johnson paints a picture of Democratic Mayors that is wholly incongruent with the state of play in blue cities. New York City’s Democratic Mayor, Eric Adams, is literally a former cop. And D.C.’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has fought tooth and nail to prevent criminal justice reforms from going into effect.
He isn’t the only southern Democrat to defect to the Republican party in a dramatic fashion. In July, Georgia State Representative Mesha Mainor announced that she was switching to the Republican. Mainor, who served in a deep-blue Atlanta district, defended her decision by arguing that she was pushed out of the Democratic party. Mainor was criticized by Georgia Democrats but welcomed with open arms by folks like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who applauded her decision to move parties.
As for Johnson, there will surely be a ton of backlash, but maybe, like Mainor, he’ll make some friends in his new party.
Another black Republican? WTF?
Somebody got a bribe of some sort.
Not necessarily. He might just be greedy for a bigger job in Texas policy. If he can throw the brown shirts a little victory without it costing him reelection that could get him enough currency for them to want to support him for higher office.
Cynical exercise of power for personal gain is not illegal so far as I know.
Are we taking bets on whether or not there’s some sexual assault or corruption allegations surfacing soon and he knew only the Republican Party would protect him from that?
What a piece of shit.
Enjoy the saliva in your coffee buddy.
I dunno, I don’t think it’s right to defecate to another party. That’s nasty.
Why? Are people not allowed to change their mind?
He was elected to represent the people that voted for him based on the beliefs he carried. If those beliefs significantly change to the point that he no longer represents the people that elected him, he should resign.
Serious question, what if he didnt change his opinions but only party affiliation. He still acted as he would have as a mayor and he still gave the people what they wanted… just change of title. Like what if he thought his style of politics belongs on the other eisle and people are so partisan that they think he switched everything.
The job of an elected representative isn’t to do what they want, it’s to represent the people who elected them. The people elected a Democrat as a mayor, and no they have a republican one.
The two parties operate on fundamentally different platforms, so I don’t see how he can both switch parties and stay true to what he promised voters when he was elected
woosh
Maybe reread the comment lol
Ah shit lol i didnt even notice
Ah shit
Politicians are supposed to follow the will of their constituents.
His responsibility is to the people. Of course he can change his mine, but he should still do his job for the people who elected him and if that is contrary to his own beliefs to the point where he is unable to do so then he should resign.
I think that just means Dallas elected another Republican.
He was paid off.
Or blackmailed.
Johnson criticized Democratic leadership, arguing that Democratic mayors (of which he was one until a few hours ago) have allowed cities to crumble into “disarray” and lawlessness.
Dallas has a terrible violent crime rate. Looks like fighting against defunding police did jack shit for them.
$$$
What a heel turn! Bah gawd king!
But seriously, how is this allowed?
These people are so fucking selfish. You were hired as a public servant, you should serve the people who elected you
Time to recall
What a dumbass. However I wish the Republican defectors like Cheney, Kinzinger, Romney, or pash ones like Flake or McCain etc… Had the spine to flip to Democrat…
EDIT: I’m putting my edit at the top of the post because it’s clear I’m dealing with people with rather limited comprehension. What you clowns fail to realize is that my post is a warning to the Democratic party because I, as a life long Democrat, see them as being utterly fucken lost in sharing their message for the future and in sharing their current successes to average Joe’s. Here, let me spell it out to you: this is not a pro-Republican post. Fuck every last thing about the GOP. Clearly, you buffoons can’t understand that concept. Yes, this administration has many successes, but what you are not understanding is that middle America doesn’t know that. That’s because Democrats are awful st reminding people what they’ve accomplished. They are terrible with communicating with people in terms of what their vision for the future is. Average Joe’s don’t follow the news all that closely. And they follow political news even less. They need to be endlessly reminded WHY Democrats are better for them, for their wallet, for the country and even the planet. There are accomplishments right now that Republicans fight tooth and nail to stop, and after they somehow got passed, those same Republicans went home and took credit for them. They did this with the infrastructure bill. How can they get away with that? Because Democrats don’t advertise their successes. Just the other day was a doom and gloom article on how so many Americans think the economy is in the toilet, when it really isn’t. The economy is legitimately good well, but perception is not because Democrats have lost the ability to send a message out to voters. The only time you see them on the news is when they are endlessly wasting time on nonsense social issues for groups that represent a few percentage points of the total population, all while the majority of folks are out there, looking around and wondering when are Democrats going to think about them. Clearly this is too complicated for some of you retards to understand.
Hey Democrats, keep pushing that bullshit social agenda and blindly focusing on tiny fringe minority groups, instead of taking care of economic issues, and this won’t be the last time a defection happens.
There are a whole lot of people who don’t see economic policies from the Dems and are sick and tired of seeing elected officials endlessly waste all their time and political capital on non-issues.
Focusing on what the pronoun du jour is will end up handing Trump a second term.
Fuck you and fuck your condescending edit.
Hey Democrats, keep pushing that bullshit social agenda and blindly focusing on tiny fringe minority group
Focusing on what the pronoun du jour is
You wrote that bullshit. I’m sorry you have so little respect for your peers that you can’t even acknowledge their gender when told. But apparently you’re such a selfish piece of garbage you can’t even manage that.
The republicans sure as shit aren’t talking about economic issues. It’s all “bullshit social agenda.” You gonna give them shit too or just attack the party you allegedly support?
Get this shit out of here. You’re just mad about the social issues.
You really need to step away from the bullshit winger propaganda. It’s not anchored in any reality.
“If they don’t look and think like me they’re tiny, fringe, and insignificant. Unworthy of any attention.”
- @hazdaz, more or less
If you’re saying this, that must mean it’s the Democrats who keep pushing legislation to regulate the lives of those “tiny fringe minority groups,” right?
Oh… no, it’s sure not that.
Anyway I’m glad my ability to access healthcare is a non-issue as far as you’re concerned.
We’re among the lowest countries for inflation, in a time of global inflation, the administration is backing labor, the fuck do you want, more trickle down? Because the only thing that trickles down is a yellow that ain’t gold, and smells funny.
I hope you dont delete your comment because we need more people to stand behind what they think. I hate how pussy footed people can be so I respect when people dont delete their heavily downvoted stuff.
With that said, i would hope that you look past the rhetoric of what republicans say they can do and what the outcome of their actions has been. There is a reason why people think the republicans are the party of phobias, the party the greedy, the party of the “fuck you I got mine”. I dislike the democrats in power too but the republicans are anti american.
Edit: i just read your update and I agree. Your comment wasnt clearly anti dem as it seemed pro rep so yeah.
