Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson switched from Democratic to Republican, blaming his former party for their mismanagement of the homeless crisis and increased crime.

“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 (as opposed to the inconsistent, poll-driven commitment of many Democrats) that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP.â€

Johnson served in the state legislature as a Democrat, but Texas’s mayoral election and mayoral offices are nonpartisan. He is the only Black Republican to lead a city as mayor.

Democrats weren’t happy with his decision.

“I think this today’s announcement is nothing short of an insult to the electorate, specifically here in Dallas County and the city of Dallas,” Kardal Coleman, chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, told Fox News Digital on Friday. 

Johnson was elected mayor in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023, earning 93% of the vote in a race where he was virtually unopposed. Johnson’s current term will end in `2027.

In 1854, the Republican Party was founded mainly to end slavery, and for two decades, it honorably promoted African-American equality.

Its first presidential nominee, pioneer James C. Frémont, took a staunch anti-slavery stand in 1856 and ran well, paving the way for Abraham Lincoln’s election four years later, who had a mixed record on slavery.