When we often comment on progressive city crime, we remind people who live there they get what they vote for. Progressive voters reelect the same failed progressive leaders to enact progressive policies. Then they wonder why it's not safe to leave their house. The only thing they won't do is elect a Republican to clean the city up. Vote for a Republican? Eww, gross. Barf.

One now FORMER Democrat mayor is hoping to break the cycle. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced he is switching parties in a Wall Street Journal editorial.

He already had GOP tendencies:

My priority has been to make the city safer, stronger, and more vibrant. That meant saying no to those who wanted to defund the police. It meant fighting for lower taxes and a friendlier business climate. And it meant investing in family-friendly infrastructure such as better parks and trails.

But he has looked at other cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco and couldn't help but notice they all had one thing in common.

Too often, local tax dollars are spent on policies that exacerbate homelessness, coddle criminals and make it harder for ordinary people to make a living. And too many local Democrats insist on virtue signaling — proposing half-baked government programs that aim to solve every single societal ill — and on finding new ways to thumb their noses at Republicans at the state or federal level. Enough. This makes for good headlines, but not for safer, stronger, more vibrant cities.

What happens next will be interesting. I admittedly don't know much about Dallas politics, but I'm assuming Johnson will govern as a moderate Republican. That's fine. If the GOP is going to build ranks in urban areas, that's what we're going to need.

But he'll still have the (R-TX) after his last name. Even worse, he dropped the D. People in cities or blue areas are weird about that. When Republicans want to run in urban areas, they tend to have to switch parties in order to have a shot. In New York, Republicans will create their own third-party line for voters who support everything the candidate stands for but don't want their neighbors to know they voted Republican.

And I know what you're thinking, "This all sounds ridiculous." It is. Welcome to running for office in America.

Johnson made the party switch after he had JUST gotten elected as a Democrat in May. It will be interesting to see how he does over the next four years. Both a mayor, but also building out a Republican bench.

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Brodigan is Grand Poobah of this here website and when he isn't writing words about things enjoys day drinking, pro-wrestling, and country music. You can find him on the Twitter too.

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