Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and the City of Dallas confirmed Monday that Johnson’s re-election will not be contested.
This makes Johnson the first unopposed Dallas mayoral candidate since Erik Jonsson in 1967. In 1991, Dallas began electing mayors to four-year terms. Johnson will be the first to run uncontested for a four-year term.
The period to file for candidacy in 2023 Dallas City Council and mayoral elections ended last Friday.
City Secretary Bilierae Johnson told Dallas Morning News on Monday that the one potential mayoral opponent, Jrmar Jefferson, didn’t obtain enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
“It is the greatest honor of my life to serve as the mayor of my hometown,” Johnson said in a public announcement. “We have achieved significant, measurable results for the residents of Dallas over the past four years, and I look forward to continuing this incredible progress in my second term.”
In September, the 47-year-old Forest Hills resident announced he would seek re-election. So far his one-person campaign has gained Dallas Police Association and Dallas Fire Fighters Association endorsements, to name just a couple, and in January his team reported more than $1.2 million collected in donations for his re-election bid.
In June 2019, Johnson bested former Oak Cliff council representative Scott Griggs in a tight runoff election.
A Dallas native, Johnson graduated from Dallas (Addison’s) Greenhill School, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania Law and Princeton, where he earned a master’s in public affairs. Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Mel Renfro served as his campaign treasurer back then. A side note: Renfro was the first Dallas Cowboy to file a fair housing lawsuit, during a time when Black players could not find housing in North or East Dallas.
The uncontested race means less deviation of Johnson’s attention from local issues such as homelessness.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced on Thursday the formation of a new task force to help the city address homelessness. He’s calling it the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness Organizations, Policies, and Encampments, or HOPE for short.
“The issue that’s on the minds of so many of our residents and so many of our businesses in this city is homelessness,” Johnson said at a press conference at City Hall Thursday. “Like every major city in the United States, Dallas has been affected by increasing homelessness in recent years. What we know from our experience is that it’s a complex problem.”
The election — for mayor as well as city council seats — is May 6. Collectively those races include 13 incumbents, a former council member, 11 other repeat candidates and 14 first-time candidates. We will separate that coverage into respective neighborhoods and will have more soon.