{"id":135577,"date":"2026-01-23T21:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/135577\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T21:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:24:11","slug":"mayor-johnson-mum-as-cornyn-fights-to-hold-senate-seat-in-bruising-gop-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/135577\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Johnson mum as Cornyn fights to hold Senate seat in bruising GOP primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson stood beside Sen. John Cornyn this week to tout World Cup security plans, while remaining neutral as Cornyn heads into a heated Republican primary.<\/p>\n

The incumbent Texas senator later said he was comfortable with that, arguing public officials in nonpartisan roles like mayors often avoid weighing in on contested primaries to avoid alienating supporters.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s faced attacks from Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who have accused him of straying from the GOP\u2019s agenda. Cornyn has argued that his voting record aligns with President Donald Trump\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

Johnson previously said he avoids endorsing candidates in partisan races while serving as mayor, though after switching parties in 2023, he took a more overtly political role, founding the Republican Mayors Association and publicly backing Trump during the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTypically, I would say public officials don\u2019t like to get involved in contested primaries because they\u2019re going to disappoint some of their own supporters if they choose sides,\u201d Cornyn told The Dallas Morning News after the FIFA discussion Thursday at Dallas police headquarters. <\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Johnson is my friend. I support him, but I\u2019m happy to duke it out with Paxton and Hunt and then we can continue to work together,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson takes the oath of office delivered by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn during the Dallas City Council\u2019s inauguration ceremony on Tuesday at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.<\/p>\n

Juan Figueroa \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Neither Johnson nor his office responded to requests for comment Friday morning. <\/p>\n

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker took a different approach, endorsing Cornyn in October. Her predecessor, Betsy Price, who served as mayor from 2011 to 2021, also endorsed him.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s discussion of FIFA security and public-safety planning came weeks after downtown Dallas \u2014 a focal point for visitors during the international tournament\u2019s run \u2014 was pulled into a political fight, with Gov. Greg Abbott seizing on AT&T\u2019s planned relocation<\/a> to Plano to criticize Dallas leaders\u2019 approach to police funding and efforts to address homelessness.<\/p>\n

Abbott, who is also running for reelection<\/a>, made the comments at a Jan. 6 political event in Fort Worth alongside Tarrant County elected officials and police union leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the responsibility of local leaders to fully fund local law enforcement,\u201d Abbott said in response to a question about voter-approved charter amendments requiring the Dallas Police Department to boost officer staffing. \u201cBecause Dallas did not do that, AT&T is now moving out of downtown Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson (left) and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, get a tour of the Dallas Police Museum following a roundtable discussion about security preparations for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Dallas police headquarters.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The next day, Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux pushed<\/a> back, telling The News that Abbott\u2019s remarks were \u201cnot a true depiction of what\u2019s going on in Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the news conference Thursday, Johnson did not respond when he and Cornyn were asked about public safety in downtown Dallas and Abbott\u2019s criticism. Cornyn said public safety was a priority for the mayor and pointed to the police department\u2019s push to reach 4,000 officers, the staffing requirement voters approved in a 2024 charter amendment.<\/p>\n

Afterward, Cornyn told The News that he had heard Abbott\u2019s remarks but deferred to Johnson, saying it was a local issue, not a federal one.<\/p>\n

The primary is March 3, with early voting beginning Feb. 17 and running through Feb. 27.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Ways to stay warm, safe as the Dallas winter storm nears<\/a><\/p>\n

Freezing precipitation\u00a0expected to start Friday night, continue through Sunday. Here\u2019s how to stay warm.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Dallas police officer fired after August arrest on family-violence charge<\/a><\/p>\n

The six-year officer, who was last assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division, declined to comment on the firing.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>Cornyn, Johnson spotlight public safety partnerships for World Cup games in North Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

Political leaders, law enforcement officials tout Dallas\u2019 public-safety preparations as the region braces for millions of FIFA World Cup visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson stood beside Sen. John Cornyn this week to tout World Cup security plans, while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[732,102,104,103,145,4376,3309,1967,1063,287,292],"class_list":{"0":"post-135577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-news","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-eric-johnson","14":"tag-john-cornyn","15":"tag-ken-paxton","16":"tag-local-politics","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-texas-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}