What Eric Johnson’s party switch does — and doesn’t — mean for Dallas

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I hung out after Mayor Eric Johnson’s TribFest talk in Austin on Friday morning, hoping to chat with him.

I wanted to tell him how I believe community-powered journalism can support the kind of nonpartisan local governance he described during his interview. But his security detail whisked him away before I had the chance.

Once he left the room, Johnson’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal announced he is switching parties, from Democrat to Republican. The op-ed, titled, “American Cities Need Republicans, and I’m Becoming One,” had to have been in the works for weeks but is time stamped 11:01 a.m. EST — coincidentally (or not) one minute following his TribFest interview, titled, “The Dallas mayor on his second-term agenda and keeping partisanship at bay.”

Johnson didn’t breathe a word of the announcement during his Texas Tribune panel, or even allude to it. Instead, the mayor used a national publication with a conservative-leaning editorial board to announce his switch from the party in which he served nine years on the Texas State Legislature, to a party in which he would have a better chance of clinching a Texas statewide office.

Here’s the thing: All of this political maneuvering doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for the vast majority of Dallas residents. And it shouldn’t have to. Johnson serves in an office that is neither Republican nor Democrat. City of Dallas elections and elected officials are nonpartisan. Voters cannot go to their precinct polling place and choose a councilmember or mayor based on a D or an R, which could be argued is a significant reason why voter turnout for local elections is lower than 10 percent.

But nonpartisan local elections, in my humble opinion as a longtime Dallas journalist, are a good thing. The fact that we as a city and a school district have to actually talk about policies and processes, rather than just check the box of the party we identify with, is good for local democracy. And state and national partisanship has so usurped local government that we desperately need the nonpartisan election process and corresponding governance that Dallas’ city charter makes way for.

During Johnson’s TribFest interview, when talking about why he voted against the final $4.6 million budget package last week, he said, “I think the people of Dallas … are smart enough and deserve a respectful, honest conversation among their elected representatives about their differing opinions about the proper role and scope of government.

“I think we’ve lost the ability to debate things on the merits.”

He pointed out Councilmember Adam Bazaldua, sitting in the audience along with Councilmember Jesse Moreno, whose budget changes he opposed last week.

“I voted against every single one of his amendments and they all passed, which is democracy in action,” Johnson said.

When asked about inviting Texas Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to Dallas in June when he was sworn in for his second four-year term, Johnson said the media “accused” him of “injecting partisanship into the ceremony.” He added that he didn’t invite the senators to make some sort of political statement, but because he had worked closely with both of them on federal issues that are “really important to Dallas.” If you’re Cornyn, Johnson continued, “it’s not gonna help you a ton to cozy up to the Black Democratic mayor of Dallas.”

“I don’t know what the media actually wants,” Johnson said. “Maybe all they want is to stir up $h*t constantly.”

I can’t speak for all Dallas media, but I can speak for the newsroom I founded, Dallas Free Press: We’re not interested in “stirring up $h*t.” We’re interested in highlighting the civic problems — and solutions — that matter most to our communities, and holding elected officials accountable for the decisions they make.

And when those elected officials prioritize their own political aspirations rather than centering their communities’ well-being, we will tell those stories.

In a city that deserves better conversation about processes and policies, and more understanding of how those policies impact residents on a day-to-day basis, the mayor just hijacked the dialogue and threw it into the dumpster fire of partisan politics.