On Election Day, Renee Brzycki was on a flight to Jupiter, Fla., from Dallas when she saw Mayor Eric Johnson making mimosas for passengers on board.
“I just thought it was fun that he seemed so down to earth and engaging,” Brzycki said, adding Johnson told her he was the Dallas mayor and was headed to Jupiter for an “election event.”
Later that night, Johnson was at the Palm Beach County Convention Center where President-elect Donald Trump’s victory party occurred, according to pictures viewed by The Dallas Morning News.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Johnson’s presence at the victory party seemed to indicate he was angling for a position in the Trump administration.
“He’s going to kiss the ring, if he in fact was there, in the hope of having a visible appointed position in the Republican administration that is just getting started,” Jillson said.
Johnson’s trip came at a time when most city leaders, including former mayors and council members, were waiting to see the fate of a trio of controversial ballot measures that had the power to change the way the city functions.
The mayor did not respond to a phone call and a text with a request for comment. Mike Demkiw, executive director of the Republican Mayors Association, told The News that Johnson’s team would not comment on speculation.
“Right now, Mayor Johnson is focused on continuing to serve the citizens of Dallas and leading the Republican Mayors Association as it helps cities across the nation elect leaders who value public safety, business-friendly policies and accountable, responsive and fiscally responsible government,” Demkiw said.
Jillson said Johnson’s best pathway to an appointment is at a subcabinet level or upper management at an entity such as the Justice Department, to show “some administrative ability to deliver the product that your office is charged to deliver.” This comes as several high-profile Texans, such as Commissioner of Agriculture of Texas Sid Miller and Attorney General Ken Paxton, are expected to be considered for cabinet positions.
“He’s a relatively young man,” Jillson said about Johnson, who is 49. “He really hasn’t shown the ability to do that as a mayor. And so the question is can he do that in an administrative or judicial position.”
The mayor was elected to six terms in the Texas Legislature as a Democrat before he was elected as the city’s top elected official in 2019. After graduating from Harvard University, Johnson worked as an investment banker and an aide in Rep. Yvonne Davis’ office. He earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University and worked in international law. He is currently a partner at Locke Lord, a law firm based in Dallas.
Several of Johnson’s moves on the national level signal the groundwork needed to build a reputation as a rising star in the GOP — a characterization that could line him up for an administrative position in the Trump administration.
He started the Republican Mayors Association last year to support other GOP candidates across the country.
Johnson was in Las Vegas on Oct. 28, stumping for mayoral candidate Victoria Seaman.
After avoiding partisan politics during his first term in the nonpartisan position, and refusing to publicly endorse Joe Biden or Trump in the 2020 election, Johnson told The News he voted for Trump in the Texas Republican primary in March.
Over the summer, Johnson was one of the speakers at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“Today, Dallas is viewed as America’s safest large city, and Republicans lead 11 of the top 15 safest cities,” he said. “And that’s because Republicans won’t be silent about public safety.”
“Together,” he said, “let’s make America safe again by retiring Joe Biden and electing Donald J. Trump.”
Johnson’s leadership in Dallas
The mayor is widely seen as a man who plays his cards close.
In July, Johnson told Texas Monthly “he preferred to speak to national media rather than local and statewide outlets.”
Since his entry into the mayoral office, Johnson has emphasized policies related to the park system in Dallas as well as tackling homelessness and reducing violent crime. He appointed key figures in policy circles to lead his goal of growing the city’s workforce.
A bulk of criticism of Johnson’s tenure has stemmed from his bumpy relationship with council members as well as former City Manager T.C. Broadnax.
In August, Johnson was absent from a council retreat and much of the discussion, according to the agenda from the meeting, was focused on fixing the way council members collaborate on issues and coming up with a north star to guide the city’s policies.
Johnson and council member Cara Mendelsohn took a different stance on the controversial S, T, and U propositions from the rest of the City Council and urged voters to reject all 18 ballot propositions. They were visibly absent from the efforts of a bipartisan coalition of elected officials.
What happens if he leaves office?
Johnson has said he will serve out his entire term as mayor, which runs until 2027.
“When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican,” Johnson said in the Wall Street Journal editorial he wrote in September 2023 explaining his departure from the Democratic Party.
If he does decide to leave office early, mayor pro tem Tennell Atkins will be asked to lead the council until May, when an election would be held. The winner would serve as mayor until the 2027 election.
Johnson announced last year he was joining the Republican Party. He has said the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, when progressive activists were outside his house and calling on Dallas to lower funding for its police force, pushed him away from the Democratic fold.
“When those activists tried to scare my kids, my fellow Democrats were silent. It was Republicans who offered their support, both privately and publicly,” he said during his speech at this year’s Republican National Convention.
After his party switch, some residents launched efforts to remove him from office through a petition, but that campaign only mustered an estimated 10,000 signatures, falling short of the 103,595 valid voter signatures needed.
Currently, Johnson is the only Republican-identifying mayor among 10 of the largest cities in the U.S.
