Eye on Politics: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson explains why he switched political parties
NORTH TEXAS — Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson opens up for the first time in local media about his decision to switch political parties and become a Republican. In a joint interview, the mayor and Police Chief Eddie Garcia discuss Dallas' crime rates. And Texas' new law making it a state crime for migrants illegally enter the state is already facing a legal challenge.
Jack Fink dives into these stories in the latest edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: Dec. 22).
Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. on CBS News Texas.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson talks about his decision to become a Republican
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson opened up for the first time in local media about his decision to switch political parties and become a Republican.
"I've thought about it awhile," Johnson said.
He said he started seriously thinking about becoming a Republican in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officers and the resulting "defund the police" movement.
"I had to be honest with myself, and I had to do some inventory. I realized that, you know, I became a Democrat at 18 when I voted for the first time. I turned 48 this year. 30 years is a long time, and I'm not the same guy 30 years later," Johnson said. "It became very clear to me I was in the wrong party and that there really is no conservative wing in the Democratic Party left, certainly not on that issue and so I switched."
The mayor, a former State Representative of Dallas, announced in September that he would be leaving the Democratic Party in an op-ed he wrote for the Wall Street Journal.
He received sharp criticism from Democrats, and some called it a 'betrayal of trust' to his voters.
When asked for a response, the mayor said, "It doesn't even make sense to me. The voters in Dallas vote for a mayor on a non-partisan basis. When a high-profile member of a party leaves, you have to say something, and I suppose it's something they came up with—that he betrayed the voters. It's factually, it's on its face ridiculous."
Watch the full interview below:
Dallas Mayor and Police Chief discuss violent crime
In an interview with Jack, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and Mayor Eric Johnson pointed to police department records showing robberies, rapes, and aggravated assaults fell from a year earlier.
Chief Garcia said, "When we talk about where we are as a city, we're definitely moving in the right direction."
Mayor Johnson said, "This will be the third consecutive year of overall violent crime falling in the city of Dallas, which is incredible."
Statistics show between Jan. 1 through Dec. 21 this year, robberies decreased by seven percent from 2022, rape dropped eight percent, and aggravated assaults non-family violence are down by 18 percent and aggravated assaults family violence are down 12 percent.
But the number of murders is up from the past two years.
So far this year, there have been 239 murders, a 14 percent increase from last year. Last year, there were 214 murders in Dallas, 221 two years ago, and 256 in 2020.
One murder case earlier this month angered both the Mayor and Chief:
Byron Carrillo was accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend, their one year old son, and two of her family members.
Court records show, two weeks earlier, Carrillo, who was previously charged with assault, was released from custody with an ankle monitor.
Garcia said, "I didn't see any uproar anywhere. We had uproar. We were texting each other going nuts about it. We certainly had uproar. But where is the uproar where an individual, under all the circumstances not go over the story, going into all the circumstances put on an ankle monitor, living next door to the victim's who he's on an ankle monitor for and then murders them?"
Johnson said, "I don't want people committing crimes who are out on some form of supervision for a very violent offense where they should be in jail. So that's what we need. We need the very dangerous criminals to be arrested and to be in jail, not roaming our streets. That's what we need."
It's an ongoing problem where violent criminals are released from jail within days or weeks according to the Chief.
He doesn't blame Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot. "My frustration, as I'm sure you followed for the time, I've been here have been with irresponsible decisions made from the bench by some. Not all, that in the name of social justice do not keep our community safe."
Watch the full interview below:
Border headlines
- A new state border security law has already led to a lawsuit. On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law. It makes it a state crime for a migrant to enter Texas illegally. The next day, The ACLU of Texas filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of civil rights organizations and El Paso County in an effort to block it.
- The legal challenge over SB 4 marks the third recent federal lawsuit between Texas and the Biden administration.
- Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state is starting to fly migrants to Chicago. The first flight took place Tuesday from El Paso with 120 people on board.
