Johnson easily wins mayoral bid in Dallas; San Antonio backs incumbent Nirenberg
Mayoral races in two of Texas’ largest cities have been decided, with Dallas voters electing a state lawmaker and San Antonio residents backing an incumbent.
In Dallas, Rep. Eric Johnson handily defeated City Council member Scott Griggs on Saturday in a runoff to succeed termlimited Mayor Mike Rawlings.
Voters in San Antonio gave Mayor Ron Nirenberg a second term in a close race against Greg Brockhouse, a City Council member. Both races were nonpartisan. Nirenberg eked out a victory in a bruising runoff that the 42-year-old mayor says will help him better represent everyone in the United States’ seventh most populous city.
Johnson, 43, grew up in Dallas and won a commanding victory with support from much of the North Texas city’s business and pollical establishment, including Rawlings.
Johnson, who rose from the blight of West Dallas to a career in law and public service, defeated council member Scott Griggs on Saturday and will become Dallas’ next mayor.
Johnson was backed by most of the city’s business and political elite — including Rawlings — and had a huge money advantage over his opponent. The election results showed the veteran legislator enjoyed strong support from northern and southern Dallas, while running well enough in the east to pull out an easy victory.
The Dallas lawyer campaigned on bringing the city together to solve its nagging problems, effectively casting Griggs as a dangerous divider who would set the city backward.
After his victory, Johnson commended Griggs for his eight years on the City Council. The state representative also said he’s ready to take on his next challenge.
“Voters said, ‘We think you did a pretty good job in the Legislature, but we are ready for you to come home,’ ” he said.
Now Johnsonwill lead a city that has made strides under Rawlings but still grapples with lingering problems, such as an underdeveloped southern side, a recent spike in major crime, a shortage of police officers, corruption at City Hall and increased economic competition from other North Texas cities.
“We’re still a city that needs to commit to finding solutions to the difficult things that are plaguing us,” said Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College. “Mike Rawlings made great progress, but it was never going to be a one-mayor fix. The next mayor has to deal with those problems.”
Others agree that Johnson is emerging as mayor at a critical time in the city’s development. And he should have plenty of support at City Hall.
“Eric Johnson is the leader of the city now,” said powerful state Sen. Royce West, one of his early backers in the runoff. “He’s at the vanguard of a new generation that’s emerging, and he’ll be a good mayor.”
In San Antonio, meanwhile, voters narrowly decided to stick with the status quo.
Surrounded by a horde of supporters in sweltering heat, Nirenberg closed his victorious remarks Saturday night with a final reflection.
“This runoff has changed me, changed me for the better,” Nirenberg said. “And I’m going to be your mayor, a mayor for all in San Antonio.”
After a turbulent two years and strenuous re-election fight, the degree to which Nirenberg adapts will determine the success of the new term he narrowly secured.
Many interpreted the “change” he alluded to as a call to arms, a response to the criticism that he’s been long on plans and short on action. But Nirenberg disagrees with the premise, citing achievements such as equitable budgeting, $25 million in funding for affordable housing and doubled resources in street maintenance as evidence his administration moved the needle in his first term.
“Things are on pace,” Nirenberg said of major plans to tackle affordability, climate change and mass transit. “We have to be clear and step up the public participation and engagement in those things, but I think we have an opportunity now… to work with due haste on all of them.”
The adjustment, then, has more to do with communicating those plans and reuniting the community after an especially divisive election.
“I think that over the last two years, people have felt City Hall has gone about the people’s business but forgotten the people,” Nirenberg told the ExpressNews Sunday. “Whether it’s perception or reality, that needs to change.”