Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced Friday that he is switching parties and will serve as a Republican-affiliated mayor of the blue-leaning city.

While the Dallas mayoral office is nonpartisan, Johnson previously served as a Democrat in the Texas legislature. He slammed his former party in an op-ed for Wall Street Journal published Friday, blaming Democratic policies for “exacerbated crime and homelessness.”

“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,” Johnson wrote. “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.”

He added: “In other words, American cities need Republicans—and Republicans need American cities.”

Johnson’s announcement makes him the only Republican among the mayors of the 10 most populous cities in the US.

  • @Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    9410 months ago

    Why are we not running as fake conservatives in every race? Conservative voters are profoundly unintelligent and are bound to occassionally vote for us.

    We could make running as a republicant a trendy hobby. We could “take the challenge” to see who can can fuck the GOP the hardest.

    • @flossdaily@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      3910 months ago

      Honestly it’s probably not happening because spending that much time with that moronic cult would be torture.

    • @darthelmet@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2010 months ago

      It only works the other way around because the money supports the right wing. Nobody’s gonna fund a secret lefty on the republican ticket.

      • @tastysnacks@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        1610 months ago

        There’s a standard playbook. Just say the same things as Don or Ron. Talk about woke pineapple slices or something and you’re in. Just commit. Like Chris Rock said, Republicans don’t let “sense” fuck up their argument.