Mayor Eric Johnson is pitching Dallas as a rising alternative to New York City, arguing that some financial firms could consider relocating if policies pursued by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani make the city less attractive to employers.
Johnson, a former Democratic state lawmaker who joined the Republican Party in 2023, made the remarks to the New York Post, where he was bullish on Dallas’ recent growth in finance and argued the city is positioned to benefit if Mamdani follows through on his democratic socialist agenda.
“What was already a trickle is going to turn into a flood of individuals and companies who have called New York home for a long time, moving to Dallas,” Johnson told the outlet in an article published Monday.
In recent months, Johnson has weighed in on New York City politics, at times branding Dallas the nation’s first “sanctuary city from socialism” in posts aimed at New Yorkers. Johnson, now in his final term, chairs and serves as president of the Republican Mayors Association, which he launched in 2023. Mamdani took office Jan. 1.
Political Points
Johnson’s remarks were published not long before AT&T’s chief executive informed employees the telecommunications giant would move its headquarters from its downtown Dallas complex to Plano — a decision the mayor attributed to company leadership preferring a “large horizontal, suburban-style campus.”
In a statement alongside City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Johnson said the city’s economic strengths are what had drawn AT&T to Dallas in 2008, and the city has become a “global economic powerhouse since then.”
Johnson pointed to what boosters have dubbed “Y’all Street” — a bid to further cement North Texas as a finance hub with the launch of the Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange, a forthcoming Goldman Sachs campus near Victory Park and an influx of other financial firms that have expanded offices and hiring in the region.
How AT&T’s move will reshape downtown remains to be seen. A study previously commissioned for Downtown Dallas Inc. estimated the company’s departure could contribute to a roughly 30% drop in downtown property values.
AT&T’s lease at the 37-story Whitacre Tower runs through 2030, and about 6,000 employees were assigned to the building as of 2022. The company’s chief executive, John Stankey, said in a statement that the company is targeting 2028 for partial occupancy of its new complex.
“The future of our city — and of our urban core — is bright,” Johnson said in the joint statement, “and this departure ultimately will open the door for us to explore new possibilities.”