Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who declared himself a Republican last fall, steered clear of partisan politics during his first term in the nonpartisan position and refused to publicly endorse President Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Johnson says he voted Tuesday for Trump as president in the Texas Republican primary because he believes the former president cares more about the issues that matter to him than Biden.
He has, during his second and final term as the city’s top elected official, also promoted other Republican mayors and declared in a virtual speech before the Republican National Committee that he was committed to “retiring Joe Biden.”
In a statement sent Wednesday to The Dallas Morning News, Johnson indicated he would continue to support Trump over Biden in what is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 general election. Trump is the last remaining major Republican candidate after former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley announced Wednesday she was suspending her presidential campaign.
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“I voted with 100% certainty that Donald Trump cares more about the issues that are most important to me and my family — such as fighting crime, reducing tax burdens on hard-working people and businesses and enhancing border security — than Joe Biden,” Johnson said. “I also trust that Donald Trump will be much more receptive than any liberal Democrat administration to on-the-ground ideas about how to actually improve America’s cities by making them safer, greener and more prosperous.”
Johnson waded deeper into party politics in separate remarks Wednesday, blasting a failed recall effort against him as “ridiculous” and an attempt pushed by “self-promoting partisan opportunists” and the media.
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