Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took center stage with a primetime speech at the GOP's unusual midterm national convention Thursday night, sharing his story of leaving the Democratic party and praising Republican policies — and President Donald Trump.
His unlikely appearance toward the end of the convention gave him higher billing than U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's seeking to replace John Cornyn in the Senate. Paxton spoke on the first day while Cruz and Abbott took the stage the second day, all with earlier timeslots than Johnson.
That premier timeslot came as Republicans vie to motivate a base that is typically less motivated during midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces losses in Congress.
For his time in the national spotlight, Johnson addressed GOP supporters at the Republican National Convention and thanked Trump for bringing the precedent-breaking event, described by political science experts as more of a pep rally or large campaign event than a traditional convention, to Dallas.
"I spent most of my life as a Democrat, but a few years ago I chose to follow a different course," Johnson said. "I chose to join a party that believes in some fundamental truths — that public safety must be our top priority, that economic freedom is vital, that taxpayers and families deserve respect. And that pro-business policies create jobs and opportunity."
While Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than 30 years, polls show Paxton trailing Democrat state Rep. James Talarico and Abbott carrying a slim lead over challenger Gina Hinojosa. Paxton and Abbott are both running races that SMU political science professor Cal Jillson said have the GOP concerned.
From a stage in the American Airlines Center, Johnson described Dallas as the largest city in the country with a Republican Mayor, omitting the fact that when voters reelected him, he still publicly identified as a “lifelong Democrat.” Johnson became a Republican in 2023, less than five months after he was elected to a second term at helm of the Dallas City Council — with an endorsement from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat.
He represented Texas House District 100, which included southern Dallas and parts of Mesquite, as a Democrat from 2010 to 2019.
A spokesperson for Johnson declined to make him available for comment Thursday. An RNC spokesperson on Wednesday initially offered an interview with Johnson, but did not respond to multiple KERA News follow-up emails to sit down with the mayor.
The Dallas mayor touted the city’s decrease in crime, homelessness and reductions in property tax as Republican accomplishments.
“Just look at Chicago, where the mayor once called defunding the police an actual real political goal,” Johnson said.
But Dallas’ reduction in violent crime aligns with reductions seen across the nation since 2020, including in Chicago where homelessness has also been on the decline.
Johnson also didn’t speak to previous criticism of Republicans during his time as a Democrat.
In 2018, when Dallas County Republicans attempted to remove more than 80 Democrats including Johnson from the ballot, he claimed the Republican Party seemed to be doing “everything in its power to show minority voters that it has little regard for them at the national, state and now local level.”
Instead, Johnson railed against socialism and Democratic policy Thursday. He said Democratic leaders want to defund police, embrace “tent cities,” care more about protecting criminals than law-abiding citizens and treat “hard-working families with shame and disdain.”
“As a former Democrat, trust me when I say this, we can't afford to let the Democrat Party take America down the road to socialism and failure,” he said.
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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