A recall effort initiated by a Dallas resident against Mayor Eric Johnson failed to meet a critical deadline on Tuesday, consequently nullifying the attempt to unseat the mayor.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, local activist Davante Peters filed a notice informing the City of his petition to recall Johnson from office. Peters cited Johnson’s joining the Republican Party and alleged absence from City meetings as the impetus of the recall bid.
The effort came amid calls from angry Democrats who were upset that the mayor had decided to leave the Democratic Party over its purportedly lax approach to public safety and fiscal responsibility, claiming that voters were misled in the last mayoral election since he only made his party switch public after handily winning re-election.
Peters’ petition needed to secure signatures from 15% of the registered voters eligible to vote in the most recent election (more than 103,000) and had to be filed with the city secretary within 60 days of the initial notice.
“Mr. Peters failed to submit the ‘Recall Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson’ petition within the required deadline,” City Secretary Bilierae Johnson told The Dallas Express. “I am not able to confirm if the required number of valid signatures were even secured. Therefore, Mr. Peters’ petition has been deemed unsuccessful.”
The Dallas County Democratic Party also launched an online petition calling on Johnson to resign. As of 9 a.m. on March 6, the petition had only secured 2,992 online signatures.
