The Dallas County Democratic Party launched an online petition Tuesday calling on Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to resign, saying his decision to switch political parties four months after winning reelection was deceptive to voters.
The online petition has more than 945 signatures as of 3 p.m. Wednesday. Kardal Coleman, the Dallas County Democratic Party chair, said the decision to start a petition began after hearing from voters taken aback by Johnson’s announcement Friday that he planned to vote Republican starting in the spring. He said the intent is for Johnson to see the impact his decision has caused.
“Dallas voters are frustrated, they feel deceived and feel they have been defrauded,” Coleman told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday. “We’re creating a space for Dallas voters to be heard.”
When asked about steps in the event the mayor does not resign, Coleman said the group is only gathering the online signatures at this point and isn’t pursuing a recall.
Johnson’s office didn’t respond to call, text or email messages requesting comment on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. In his political party switch announcement last week, Johnson indicated that he plans to remain mayor until his term ends in June 2027 and his successor has been sworn in.
Coleman also spoke during the Dallas City Council meeting Wednesday afternoon, calling on Johnson to resign immediately. The mayor attended the morning half of the meeting but wasn’t there later in the afternoon.
Coleman described Johnson as an example of why some people don’t trust politicians and that many people who worked to help the mayor get elected believed they shared the same values.
“Mr. Mayor, you said you are changing. However, in that process, you’ve robbed Dallas of its choice,” Coleman said. “This switch is the launch of a self-centered agenda that puts politics over people.”
Yolanda Faye Williams, another speaker, told the City Council that Coleman didn’t speak for everyone in Dallas. Williams has frequently run for City Council and was endorsed by Johnson in a 2021 race won by incumbent Council member Jaime Resendez.
Williams described herself as a “die-hard Democrat” and called Coleman’s comments “disturbing” and “madness.” She said many residents appreciate Johnson’s public safety-heavy focus and have higher priorities than the mayor’s political affiliation. She mentioned one of her church members whose toddler granddaughter was killed in a drive-by shooting in Old East Dallas on Sunday.
“You think she gives a damn about the mayor being a Republican?” Williams said of her fellow parishioner. “She wants law and order, for y’all to find who killed her 2-year-old granddaughter.”
Williams urged Johnson not to resign and that what party the mayor or council members vote for made no difference to her.
“People have the right to be (part of) whichever party they want to be,” she said.
Other speakers earlier in the day expressed disappointment with the mayor.
Jrmar Jefferson, who filed to run for mayor in May and failed to qualify for the ballot, said Wednesday morning that he believed Johnson should step down and exclaimed that the mayor was “fired.” Jefferson said rumors that Johnson’s announcement was to further aspirations for a higher office casts a shadow over how committed he is as mayor of Dallas.
“You would have never been elected had you been honest,” Jefferson said.
William Hopkins, another speaker, questioned whether Johnson’s pastor or church knew ahead of time about his plans to switch political parties. Minutes before Hopkins spoke, the City Council received an invocation from J.K. Hamilton, a Dallas police chaplain and pastor at Mountain View Church of Christ, where Johnson is a member.
“You done tricked us, Eric,” Hopkins said. “You tricked us, man.”
According to the city charter, a recall election of a council member or the mayor requires a petition filed with the city secretary that is signed by at least 15% of registered voters in the district eligible to vote in the most recent election. In Dallas County, that would amount to more than 97,000 of the 648,174 voters who were eligible to vote for mayor in May.
The petition with the total number of signatures has to be turned in to the city secretary’s office within 60 days of giving written notice of the petition’s circulation. The city secretary would then have 30 days to verify the signatures and if they are valid, the petition would be forwarded to the City Council who could ultimately put a recall election on the ballot for voters.
The last recall attempt of a Dallas City Council member was a failed effort in 2017 to remove then-council member Kevin Felder months after he was elected to the position. The petition failed after organizers weren’t able to get the required number of signatures. There were three failed recall attempts against former Mayor Laura Miller in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
The positions of Dallas’ mayor and 14 City Council members are nonpartisan. But Johnson in his announcement last week expressed disillusionment with the Democratic Party and feeling his stances on issues like public safety are better aligned with the Republican Party.
“The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism,” Johnson wrote. “Our cities desperately need the genuine commitment to these principles … that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP.”
Political observers say they believe the move is largely to position Johnson for his next job. Johnson was first elected mayor in 2019 and reelected in May with 93% after being the only person listed on the ballot for voters. His latest term ends in 2027 and he would be term limited.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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