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.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
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    The Texas Democratic Party issued a scathing statement Friday, accusing Johnson of being dishonest with Dallas voters.

    “[T]he voters of Dallas deserved to know where he stood before he ran for reelection as Mayor,” the chair and vice-chair of the party said. “He wasn’t honest with his constituents, and knew he would lose to a Democrat if he flipped before the election.”

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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    1 year 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.

  • Hotdogman@lemmy.world
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    I’m the mayor of this town and there’s too much crime. So I’m switching parties. That’ll fix things.

    • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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      In a state that has a Republican legislature and governor. So how do the Democrats get blamed for a town that has too much crime?

  • 0xb@lemmy.world
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    1. How is this allowed?

    2. Since it’s allowed, why aren’t Dems taking advantage of the old switcheroo and packing every race with temporary conservatives only for switching back once elected? That would be the funniest thing.

    I mean if democracy is a joke may as well get some good out of playing it.

      • El Barto@lemmy.world
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        This one Dem from the article just did exactly that, though…

        Edit: haha, nice downvotes. So you’re saying that the switching dude was a republican in disguise all the time?

          • El Barto@lemmy.world
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            Bhaha, nah brah. Lemmy is just a toy for me. I usually like people who argue actual points, even if wrong instead of saying “hurr durr u stoopid”, but that’s fine, it’s a free platform.

      • Lemonparty@lemm.ee
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        I mean if the other team plays dirty and you do the same, that’s just called playing even at that point.

    • unalivejoy@lemm.ee
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      I think 2 is the only way to get Republican law makers to do anything about it.

  • bobman@unilem.org
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    poll-driven commitment of many Democrats

    You mean the will of the people? You would subvert the will of the people for your own agenda?

    Hmm… sounds like a tyrant to me.

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    I accidentally voted for one of these people in the last election. In a local race, only two candidates so I voted for the one with a D next to his name. After I mailed in my ballot I got curious and went to his website, he was full on pro-Trump MAGA. Not even hiding the fact that he was running as a D to get dumbasses like me to vote for him. He got me good. Touché. Won’t be voting blind again. Stay vigilant!

    • davidgro@lemmy.world
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      Was your alternative any better? Sounds like a race with two Rs (which can happen legit in my state, primary is top two, but it’s more likely to be two Ds)

      • Iwasondigg
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        I didn’t look at the alternative, but that’s who won. IIRC the troll candidate only got like 14%.

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    Unemployment declines under democratic leadership.

    Fiscal conservatism isn’t going to house people.

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    Maybe the Democratic party needs to vet their nominees better. Otherwise it’s not going to be a political party anymore, just a name to exploit.

  • Lexam@lemmy.ca
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    I’m not saying its ok to assinate people. But I can understand why it would happen.

    • Aesculapius@kbin.social
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      Here is the correct quote from Winston Churchill: “If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.”
      Also, conservatism in Churchill’s era is absolutely NOT what conservatism is now.

      • snooggums@kbin.social
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        Churchill probably meant the literal meaning of conservative, which is slow to change. Doesn’t make his message much better though, since slow to change shouldn’t mean being slow with obvious social problems.

      • bobman@unilem.org
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        Yeah, “sayings” like this are just litmus tests for idiots at this point.

        Whenever someone leans on a “saying” as absolute truth, I know they’re a moron and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

  • Armen12@lemm.ee
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    A Republican Mayor in a Republican state doesn’t sound too unusual though, I mean, it sounds on par with Texas