BREAKING: Major Blue City Mayor Is Abandoning Democrats, Joining The GOP - 'American Cities Need Republicans'

On Friday, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who has been in office since 2019, announced that he would be switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in a major shift for the fifth-largest city in America. 

Johnson took to The Wall Street Journal to explain his shift, writing, "While Dallas has thrived, elsewhere Democratic policies have exacerbated crime and homelessness."

Johnson explained that under his leadership, the city of Dallas has brought violent crime down in every category and lowered property taxes year-over-year.

"After these wins for the people of Dallas—and after securing 98.7% of the vote in my re-election campaign this year—I have no intention of changing my approach to my job. But today I am changing my party affiliation," he wrote. "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."

The mayor went on to explain that his shift to the Republican Party will likely come as a surprise to many given that he served as a Democrat in the Texas House for nine years. However, given the abysmal policies pursued by Democrat mayors throughout the country, Johnson has realized that the Republican approach to governance brings about prosperity for all.

"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 explained. "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."

"In other words, American cities need Republicans—and Republicans need American cities," he wrote, citing the fact that 80 percent of Americans live in cities. "As America’s cities go, so goes America."

"Unfortunately, many of our cities are in disarray," the former Democrat explained about Democrat-led metroplexes. "Mayors and other local elected officials have failed to make public safety a priority or to exercise fiscal restraint. Most of these local leaders are proud Democrats who view cities as laboratories for liberalism rather than as havens for opportunity and free enterprise."

He went on to emphasize that Democrat policies exacerbate homelessness, endanger citizens, and make it harder for residents to thrive with Democrats virtue signaling rather than leading.

"This makes for good headlines, but not for safer, stronger, more vibrant cities," Johnson wrote.

"It is clear that the nation and its cities have reached a time for choosing," Johnson wrote, concluding, "And the overwhelming majority of Americans who call our cities home deserve to have real choices—not “progressive” echo chambers—at city hall."

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