Republican efforts to win elections in big cities have turned out a lot like Democrats trying to run big cities: a major failure. But what happens when GOP policies finally get a foothold in a major city?
In a surprise to absolutely no one, the city gets better.
It was a Democrat who proved this, though he is a Democrat no more. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced this month that he is becoming a Republican, claiming, “Mayors and other local elected officials have failed to make public safety a priority or to exercise fiscal restraint” in major cities.
“In other words, American cities need Republicans — and Republicans need American cities,” Johnson said.
He couldn’t be more right about either point, and he proved the former with how he has led in Dallas. Rather than give in to Black Lives Matter or defunding the police, Johnson focused on combating the rising violent crime in Dallas. As a result, Dallas was the only one of the country’s 10 biggest cities to bring down violent crime across the board in both 2021 and 2022. The Dallas Police Department increased its presence in problem areas in the city, and the city made major investments in policing.
Believe it or not, that brought the violent crime rate down. Who could have possibly guessed?
Johnson’s approach to crime was a Republican approach, meaning his party change is only formalizing the fact that Dallas has been successfully led by a Republican. As the only GOP mayor of a major American city, that puts the GOP’s success rate in running major cities at 100%. So take note, Chicago: Maybe 92 years of Democrats is long enough.